
For first time a dedicated conversation on cryptocurrency in US congress - CGBrian
https://coingape.com/hodl-in-us-senate-thanks-to-cftc-chairman-christopher-giancarlo/
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avenoir
The bit that I found interesting is when one of the witnesses (either Jay
Clayton or Chris Giancarlo) mentioned that they tried to get their college-age
kids to invest in stock market. Even gave them some cash to play around with
but it just never caught on. Then Bitcoin exploded and they naturally
gravitated to it. He could've taken this story into many directions, basically
saying that the whole thing is madness because we have teenagers playing in
this market. But he didn't. Instead it kind of sounded like he wanted everyone
to embrace it... but still put regulations in place :)

~~~
maxxxxx
I don't get the idea of "investing in cryptocurrencies". If they are ever to
be used as currency they should be relatively stable and predictable. The
current status of extreme deflation makes any serious use almost impossible.

~~~
darawk
You're investing in a future where they are used as currencies. If today you
could buy USD for 10 cents, knowing that it'd be worth its value today, that'd
be worthwhile. Now, lots of people don't think cryptos will ever achieve that
kind of success, and they may be right. But that is the investment thesis
nonetheless.

~~~
hartator
Except 10 cents of USD was worth more 50 years ago than now.

~~~
programmarchy
Because of the Fed, which is an organization many people don't want
manipulating (devaluing) their currency. Monetary freedom is a big draw for
many in the crypto community.

~~~
marnett
But the draw is near fantasy levels of misunderstanding and delusion. Monetary
policy is not that simple.

~~~
allthenews
Sure, but one could argue that our sanctioned manipulation of fiat currency is
similarly based on delusions of simplicity and/or understanding. We still
don't seem able to reliably avoid recessions, and no one is predicting the
market with any reproducible accuracy.

Perhaps such complex, chaotic systems may be better off sans regulation.
Especially something like cryptocurrency, which does not have the same
properties as paper fiat, although it is being treated as such.

I personally have less faith in institutions run by humans and bogged down by
dated regulations than I do in an instantaneously fluctuating near free
market. If you can't trust people to invest in currency because of complexity,
what makes you think you can trust them to regulate your money, and make
decisions that affect the value of your assets for you?

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staplers
It is easy to be critical of the wild fluctuations in price and the "pump and
dump" nature of cryptocurrencies, however you only ever notice big governments
and companies paying attention to the technology (the actual innovation) only
after the price has rapidly risen.

~~~
janeroe
The only issue is there's neither attention (in the sense that you mean) of
"big governments and companies" nor "innovation".

~~~
52-6F-62
Please see my sibling comment for early evidence of both.

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lumberjack
Seems to me that in the short term, as long as cryptocurrencies keep getting
used to move money out of non-western countries (India and China amongst
others), into western countries, there is no reason why western governments
would want to hinder such activity. At the same time I wouldn't be surprised
if China and India try to ban them, although with all the rampant corruption
at all levels of government, that might prove very hard to enforce for both of
them. With regards to Russia, I don't know what to think.

Am I wrong in thinking this?

~~~
marnett
where, exactly, do you think the miners for bitcoin are located?

Hint: China

~~~
wmf
And it's widely speculated that those Chinese miners exist only to convert
yuan to offshore dollars/euros, which is contrary to Chinese government
policy.

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KasianFranks
This was a very positive branch in the history and adoption of cryptocurrency.
Here's the full testimony:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWQmQ_0Ovxs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWQmQ_0Ovxs)

------
CGBrian
Regulation is good but only when it is done with an intention of making it
available to the public in a risk-free manner and not trying to abandon it.
Cryptocurrencies for the first time are making people realize the importance
of financial freedom like never before. Governments are not scared because
cryptos can be used for illegal purpose but because it is challenging the
whole foundation of current global economics.

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bfuller
Its amazing to see crypto currencies in their infancy. It makes me wonder
about when money itself was invented, surely there were pump and dump schemes
then too?

