Commentary The world of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is exotic and esoteric. It is also Beijing’s next challenge to the free world. Until now, to an extent, most policy debate in the free world has tended to dismiss the crypto phenomenon as esoteric, illicit, or reckless. This is superficial and misleading. The free world governments need to get serious about accepting and directing the crypto innovations in a positive and creative direction that can benefit their economies and societies. In the free world, there has been a division between the private sector that has been accelerating the use of cryptocurrencies and the government and central bank players who are uncertain and nervous about any shift away from the long-established fiat currencies. One aspect of this division is a tendency on the part of private-sector financial players to assume that their gains can only come at the expense of …