Following a press conference held by U.S Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Steven, on July 16, crypto industry experts as you would expect, have responded to the criticisms against cryptocurrencies from the United States government official.
At the half an hour event held on Monday, and dedicated to cryptocurrencies, Mnuchin deliberated on the rise of the industry, as well as Facebook’s attempt to create its own digital currency.
He, however, confirmed that although Libra is not a true instance of cryptocurrency in terms of its structural mechanism, it still fits into the bracket of “cryptocurrencies.”
Regarding Bitcoin specifically, Mnuchin said,
“We are concerned about the speculative nature of bitcoin and will make sure that the U.S. financial system is protected from fraud.”
Those words were a repetition of last week’s tweet by Donald Trump who aired that “Bitcoin is highly volatile and based on thin air.”
In another development, the CEO and founder of Digital Currency Group Barry Silbert loudly tweeted, ”Complete and total validation of bitcoin.”
Still, on the matter, some crypto fans have picked on Washington’s several attempts to squeeze a grip on cryptocurrency and its apparent failure because it is an uncontrollable phenomenon.
Making fun of Mnuchin’s several claims that no one has heard of the Treasury’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Tracy Mayer concluded that “Familiar with president’s Working Group On Financial markets? GATA: no more markets, only manipulations.”
In support of Mnuchin’s view, a co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital, Anthony Pompliano is concerned about the illegal trading in the cryptocurrency industry, he said: “sounds like a green light for those who want to do things the right way.”
Impressed by Mnuchin, Meltem Demirors of CoinSharesCo. also described the speech as “measured and fair” in her opinion.
