cryptovibes.com
Bitcoin, just like the internet, can be used in many ways that may compromise US prowess without considerable allowances from the legislators. Interestingly, BTC can undermine the US dollar if America fails to take a leading role in accepting it, according to Anthony Pompliano.
The Morgan Creek Digital co-founder was speaking to CNBC on April 8 where he followed up on a warning issued by investor Peter Thiel. Thiel said that China could use BTC to destabilize US dollar hegemony.
Thiel Speaks About The Bitcoin Threat
Thiel mentioned in an appearance at the Nixon Seminar:
“I do wonder at this point whether Bitcoin is to be thought of in part as a Chinese financial weapon against the U.S.; it threatens fiat money but it especially threatens the U.S. dollar.”
When asked whether this was a possible issue, Pompliano was quick to say that Thiel was not an opponent of BTC, but instead it, like the internet, may have positive and negative results for Washington should the policymakers make ill-thought-out decisions. Pomp explained to CNBC’s “Squawk Box” segment:
“I think what we’ve got to understand is that Bitcoin is an open, decentralized protocol. Everyone in the world has an opportunity to use this, just like the internet… and so just because other countries, maybe adversarial or not to the United States, are going to use it, it doesn’t mean [Thiel] is taking an anti-Bitcoin stance; actually, it’s quite the contrary.”
The legislative and legal landscape that is surrounding Bitcoin in the United States remains a patchwork one, despite some of the states, especially Florida and Wyoming, actively seeking to become a haven for BTC adoption. Pompliano continued:
“I think what [Thiel] is doing here is he’s saying, ‘Look, there’s a global competition happening here and there are other countries who are going to try to use this to try to destabilize or financially attack the United States.’ What we need is for the United States to be the leader here; we need to embrace this, so we need to make sure that we use this technology to continue to be a leader on the global stage.”
A Familiar Challenge
Retail and institutional investor interest in crypto, in general, remains prominent due to their higher prices this year. However, beneath all these movements is a separate narrative that continues to play out. This narrative involves state-focused power shuffles for a segment of the BTC network’s power.
The so-called ‘hash war’ may also fall into the hands of any state, including those that are targeted by the United States sanctions in recent years including Venezuela and Iran.
China’s position in the BTC mining game, in the meantime, has been known for several years now, despite a ban on transacting and the nation’s central bank working on a digital yuan project.