The United State Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has released its comments regarding cryptocurrency. According to the CFTC, cryptocurrency, in all likelihood, will not be strong enough to replace major fiat currencies, but may provide security for countries without a strong banking presence. We have started to see the effects of cryptocurrency in countries without strong fiat and banking support, such as Venezuela, as discussed in our podcast. The remarks from the CFTC come at a time when there are still investors who want to condense Bitcoin to nothing more than an investment used for trading and nothing more. The Chairman of CFTC, J. Christopher Giancarlo believes differently. We should listen, given his status as the top derivatives regulator in the US.
Giancarlo recently participated in an interview with CNBC, and on that interview he reiterated his position on cryptocurrency as “here to stay”. While he believes that cryptocurrency is here to stay, he doesn’t believe that it will take over the world in a way that investors want it to. Remarking further, he added:
“I personally think that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. I think there is a future for them. I’m not sure they ever come to rival the dollar or other hard currencies, but there’s a whole section of the world that is really hungry for functioning currencies that they can’t find in their local currencies. There’s 140 countries in the world, every one of them has a currency. Probably 2/3 are not worth the polymer or the paper they’re written on, and those parts of the world rely on hard currencies. Bitcoin [or another] cryptocurrency may solve some of the problems.”
But Giancarlo doesn’t see this happening for at least another decade, something similar to what Kurt and Matt talked about in their latest podcast.
Giancarlo has remained aggressive about wanting US legislators to pursue regulations regarding cryptocurrency. He hopes that they take an attitude of reflection regarding cryptocurrency products, which is an attitude he hopes will continue even if the US is not a leader in cryptocurrency or blockchain technology. This is the reason why his nickname is “CryptoDad”, a moniker earned following a congressional testimony that reiterated his position with legislators.
Clarifying his remarks, Giancarlo ended the interview by saying:
“There’s no question that the United States is leading in a number of areas. But there’s other areas as well of innovation where I think it makes sense for us to take a little bit more of a thoughtful and intelligent approach, just as the US Congress did 20 years ago in the early days of the internet.”
Watch the full video here.
What do you think? Wall Street is in love with crypto, and along with bullish news from Binance and from the Intercontinental Exchange, do you think this piece of news will reinvigorate the bulls? Tell us more on our Facebook page!
