Sen. Giancarlo Teaches Senate Banking Committee about Cryptocurrency
Senator J. Chris Giancarlo has educated the members of the US Senate Banking Committee on cryptocurrency and its uses at a hearing into cryptocurrency regulation earlier this week.
The head of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Giancarlo noted that bitcoin displays features of multiple asset classes and can be viewed “very much like a commodity”, similar to gold or silver.
“We owe it this new generation to respect their enthusiasm about virtual currencies with a thoughtful and balanced response, not a dismissive one,” said Giancarlo.
“It’s important to remember that if there were no Bitcoin, there would be no distributed ledger technology,” he continued. Giancarlo also noted that the use of the distributed ledger technology would have assisted in the 2008 financial crisis when it came to identifying who owned a mortgage.
“Sixty-six million tons of American soybeans were just handled through a blockchain transaction by the Dreyfus company to China. So Bitcoin is now being used, it’s being used in our American transportation and logistics system,” Giancarlo said later. “I think this distributed ledger technology has enormous potential. Now how it will be realized, when it will be realized are challenges, and those we can’t say.”
He even went on to explain the online slang “hodl” to the committee, saying: “If you go on to the [bitcoin] Twitter universe, you will see the phrase ‘H-O-D-L,’ meaning hold on for dear life, meaning they buy it and hold it.”
Giancarlo’s comments at the hearing have seen his social media presence skyrocket, with his Twitter follow count increasing from around 5000 follower to over 39,000 in just a few days.
The commissioner went on to say that the FBI will be assisting the CFTC in analysis of transactions in the bitcoin futures market in order to detect financing of terrorism, or use by state sponsors of terror such as North Korea. “Word is getting out that we will go after misconduct, I think you’re seeing it in the price, and it’s an important step,” he said.
Giancarlo rounded out his week by encouraging cryptocurrency users to exercise caution and to do their research, prompting another enthusiastic response from his growing fan base on social media.
