Today, the Chamber of Digital Commerce delivered its recommendation for a National Action Plan for Blockchain (NAPB). This, in many ways, serves as a blueprint for governments around the world that have yet to embrace this transformative technology.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies stand to democratize the global financial system and how value is transferred. It is long past time that the United States made a strong statement in support of financial technology innovation and inclusion by considering the Chamber’s NAPB and the guiding principles it recommends.

It’s not a stretch to consider that the advancement of a technology requires foundational clarity from governments in order to achieve its potential. The United States government’s current posture toward blockchain technology may hinder the country’s participation in this rapidly developing global financial technology ecosystem, especially as other governments roll up their sleeves and demonstrate more enthusiastic support.

The United States has always inspired the global agenda in technology, finance, and the intersection between the two. This lack of support and regulatory clarity could have significant effect on our industry’s ability to attract capital, build, and innovate, especially in ways that don’t often immediately crest the horizons of policymakers.

Teams of well funded developers are fork-lifting themselves to places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Caymans and Zug, and taking the potential of multi-trillion dollar networks along with them. These geographies are aggressive in terms of smartly building the foundations for a thriving ecosystem: technologies, tools, techniques, and talent. They benefit from regulatory clarity, government support, and room to innovate and build a new financial future. This is the environment that the United States should embrace – to learn from, contribute to, and participate in.

This new technology frontier is a global movement, so it’s not just about one country — it’s about harmonizing energies amongst a vibrant community of innovators, investors and policymakers in order for blockchain technology to achieve its full potential. We are still very much in the early cycle of this ecosystem, and have a ton of infrastructure to build and a lot of work to do in terms of shaping adoption amongst enterprise, government and, most importantly, society. Having the United States be a more active and positive part of this movement will help streamline some of today’s key policy challenges, and develop more thoughtful perspectives for the massive opportunities ahead.

Matthew Roszak is chairman and co-founder of Bloq, and also proudly serves as chairman of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the world’s first and largest trade association representing the blockchain industry.