Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader from California recently appeared on Squak Box to talk about various governance policies of the Biden government as well as their approach towards the highly popular Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies market. McCarthy called for better regulations to allow the crypto market to flourish in the US.
When asked about his opinion about the Biden government’s approach towards Bitcoin especially the likes of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen who has warned people against the use of cryptocurrencies, McCarthy said that the regulators in the US tried to ignore it earlier hoping it would go away, but those people need to start understanding the importance of these digital assets in the future of finance. He said,
They tried to ignore it to make it go away. Jamie Dimon will tell you that,”
"They tried to ignore it to make it go away. Jamie Dimon will tell you that," says @GOPLeader on #bitcoin. "This is something that those who regulate, those who are in government that make policy better start understanding what it means for the future." #btc pic.twitter.com/pO2eVbxLff
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 13, 2021
Janet Yellen, the treasury secretary of the Biden administration has drawn a lot of flack over the past few months for her regressive stance on Bitcoin propagating unverified claims such as “growing use of Bitcoin for illicit activities,” a defence often used by many regulators to show Bitcoin in a bad light. However, factually speaking the use of digital assets for illicit activities have declined significantly over the years as analytics and tracing tools became more prominent over the years.
After Wall Street, Policymakers Have Come to Realize Bitcoin’s Potential?
McCarthy is not the only sane voice coming from a politician, in fact, this bull season has not just seen some of the biggest Wall Street critics turn into a Bitcoin admirer, the policymakers have also come to realize the potential that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies hold in the financial future. The likes of Goldman Sachs which only last year had deemed Bitcoin unfit to be an asset class has not just gained exposure to Bitcoin but also listed Bitcoin as the best-performing asset on their financial charts.
China’s growing development in the digital asset space and the development of their CBDC called digital yuan has been deemed as a potential threat by the US to its financial sovereignty and many politicians including Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has called for better regulations to steer ahead of china in the digital asset sector.
