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WARREN SAYS BITCOIN LIKE “BUYING AIR.” Related to her recent comments to NBC on a US CBDC, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) painted the blockchain crypto technology sector as basically a giant empty bubble ready for a big burst.
“The whole digital world has worked very much like a bubble works,” said Warren. “What is it moved up on? It’s moved up on the fact that people all tell each other that it’s going to be great, just again like it was on that real estate market. How many times did people say, ‘Real Estate always goes up. It never goes down?’ They said it decades ago before the last real estate bubble. They said it in the 2000s, before the crash in 2008.”
Of course, the overall trend in real estate, despite busts and bumps, has been up and rewarded buyers and owners over the last 30 years, as anyone who bought in at 1990, 2001, or even 2008, knows.
Real estate has offered one of the surest ways for average Americans, who must spend on a dwelling in some form or fashion, to accumulate wealth, period.
As for the internet’s infamous “dot.com” bust circa 2000? It didn’t mean the internet was a mirage, without value. Far from it. It was a shaking out, and very obviously not a financial death knell for the sector.
No market of value is immune from speculation, and that includes real estate, the stock market, commodities, etc.
Warren, though apparently really believes the blockchain crypto-technology sector brings no significant value to the table.
That’s a problem. The U.S. has an opportunity to lead in fostering and benefitting from fast innovating crypto technology.
But misapprehending the nature and scope of crypto innovations, by dismissing it all as an empty speculative ponzi scheme, is an un-nuanced view, to put it mildly.
Coming as it does from someone who serves on the economy related Senate Committees on Finance, and on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs, Warren’s take may well result in ham-handed regulation that blots out a bright spot in an otherwise dark economic picture for the nation.
Trends In Cryptos and Blockchain Battles have laid out some of the innovations that crypto technology represents, in articles such as:
- “THE CRYPTO “AGE OF UTILITY” HAS JUST BEGUN” (12 Oct 2021)
- “WHAT IS THE VALUE OF CRYPTOS AND BLOCKCHAINS?” (15 Jun 2021)
- “WHY BITCOIN MAXIMALISM GETS IT WRONG” (18 Jan 2022)
- “NFTS: MUCH MORE THAN DIGITAL ART” (15 Feb 2022)
- “A TOKENIZED PLANET” (15 Mar 2022)
- “CRYPTO OPENING WEALTH TO YOUNGER GENERATION” (2 Nov 2021)
UK POSITIONING ITSELF AS CRYPTO FRIENDLY TECH HUB. As part of a new initiative to position Britain as a crypto-friendly technology player, UK chancellor Rishi Sunak announced plans on Monday to regulate stablecoins and issue an NFT (Non-Fungible Toke).
According to theblockcrypto.com, the UK will recognize crypto stablecoins as an acceptable form of payment.
Treasury officials are saying that with proper regulation, they could offer a more efficient way of payment and expand customer choice.
In addition, Sunak demonstrated a recognition of the importance of NFT technology, by requesting that UK’s Royal Mint issue its own NFT by this summer.
“We want to see the businesses of tomorrow – and the jobs they create – here in the UK, and by regulating effectively we can give them the confidence they need to think and invest long-term,” Sunak said.
The moves, if followed through on, would represent a distinct shift.
The UK has not exactly been known up to this point as a particular friend of crypto technology. Companies such as crypto market maker B2C2, Blockchain.com, and wallet firm Wirex, which tried to seek the ability there, have since sought licenses elsewhere.
But the Treasury Twitter account signaled that the new positive stance is real, saying the new initiatives represent a “forward-looking approach we are determined to take towards crypto assets in the UK.”