Rated P for Public

Credit rating agencies have long played an important rolein the economy of the United States. In response to thefinancial crisis of 2008, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reformand Consumer Protection Act introduced reforms to increasethe transparency and accountability of credit rating agencies.With the rise of cryptocurrencies and the expansion ofblockchain technology, established credit rating agencies arenow considering offering ratings for cryptocurrencies, in thesame way they rate traditional securities. Borrowing from the lessons learned from the experience ofthe 2008 financial crisis, this Note proposes that the UnitedStates government create a public agency to providecryptocurrency ratings. The Note begins by providingbackground information on cryptocurrencies, blockchaintechnology, credit rating agencies, and the subprime mortgagecrisis of 2008. Next, it discusses problems in the credit ratingprocess that were not solved by Dodd-Frank—namely, theprevalence of fraud and conflicts of interest between ratingagencies and issuers. The Note then proposes the publiccryptocurrency rating agency solution and additionalsupplementary reforms that may be adopted to address these unsolved problems.