Why many politicians have a bad attitude towards cryptocurrencies: an answer from a Coinbase exchange representative
There are quite a few active opponents of cryptocurrencies in the U.S. government, who hinder their development. However, the opposition to digital assets does not arise from nothing – according to Phillip Martin, head of security at Coinbase, the main problem here is a banal lack of awareness of the key principles of digital assets. Moreover, representatives of the largest American crypto exchange are making the necessary efforts to solve this problem.
Misunderstanding of the topic of cryptocurrencies and the principle of their work is widespread. For example, earlier this month, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas got caught up in it, spreading misinformation about Efirium and received a portion of criticism in response.
In brief, he shared a photo of a chapter from the book “Bitcoin: Beginner’s Guide,” which claimed that Amazon Web Services (AWS) representatives could allegedly push a button that would cause the Ethics network to stop working.
Etherium and other cryptocurrencies
In reality, however, any blockchain will perform as long as at least one validator node is online and validating transactions in new blocks.
What’s holding back the development of the crypto market?
In an interview with Cointelegraph at the Ripple Swell event, Martin voiced the following opinion on the current situation.
Educated lawmakers make much better decisions. Lack in this area leads to bad laws and stifled innovation.
However, some politicians understand the essence of what is happening with digital assets and support its normal development. For example, they include US House of Representatives member Richie Torres, who regularly embarrasses SEC chairman Gary Gensler. The last time he did so was in late September, as we wrote about in our Telegram feed.
According to Martin, Coinbase has also helped policymakers in the United States learn about consumer protection and security measures that are being integrated into the cryptosphere to combat illegal activity. He continues.
We’re always very, very happy to help educate because I think it’s really a guaranteed solution to a difficult problem for a lot of them.
Coinbase intends to educate newcomers who mess with the digital asset niche. They will be made aware of the risks involved and how they may differ from existing scam schemes that potential victims have encountered before.
Many people base their own opinions about cryptocurrencies on headlines in traditional major media outlets. And it’s unfortunate when we see information that doesn’t always fully reflect the facts.
The share of illegal transactions in the total volume of cryptocurrency transfers
Martin emphasised that the idea that cryptocurrencies are the “abode of illicit finance” is wrong and needs to be corrected.
The security chief pointed to a fresh Coinbase report from 1 October. It claims that illegal transactions account for 0.34 per cent of total crypto transfers, compared to 33 per cent of cash used by criminals and tax evaders in the US.
It is also important to realise that popular cryptocurrencies are powered by transparent blockchains that allow the activity of the owners of the right addresses to be tracked without any problems. This, in turn, makes it possible to arrest scammers using digital assets, examples of which we have even seen this week.
It should also be remembered that popular centralised exchanges help law enforcement agencies with blocking stolen assets. Stablecoins can be frozen by their issuers like Tether and Circle, which they do regularly.
.
Paolo Ardoino, head of Tether.
However, sometimes Bitcoin adoption is severely delayed even without any fraudulent intervention. A striking example of this is the prevalence of the main cryptocurrency in El Salvador.
In this country, BTC became a legal tender on par with the dollar back in September 2021. However, a fresh survey shows that 92 per cent of Salvadorans have not used bitcoins for transfers at all.
Percentage of Salvadorans who have not used bitcoin for transactions at all
Just 7.5 percent of respondents to the October 10 survey conducted at the University of San Salvador Francisco Gavidia said they had interacted with BTC for transfers. 0.5 percent chose not to answer this question.
The latest results indicate a decline in Bitcoin use in the country. Still, an earlier survey from the Central American University’s Institute of Public Opinion showed that 88 percent of Salvadorans did not use BTC for transactions in 2023.
The study surveyed 1,224 adult Salvadoran citizens who were asked about the most pressing political and economic issues.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele
About 60 per cent of respondents said the country was on the right track, followed by approval of President Nayib Bukele’s actions.
However, only 1.3 percent of respondents believe that Bitcoin should be a “major bet” on the country’s future. And the vast majority of respondents believe that the focus in this context should be on education and industry.
Bukele was elected to office in June 2019, after leading a controversial but popular crackdown on organised crime groups that has resulted in the imprisonment of around 1 percent of the country’s population. Salvadorans supported the move, but Bukele Nayib’s crackdown was criticised by human rights groups, who said there was a lack of due process and widespread mistreatment of prisoners.
The current negativity of politicians towards the cryptocurrency industry is surely due in part to early criticism of digital assets from many celebrities, officials and economists. It is from there that the view that coins are supposedly only needed to circumvent bans and break the law took hold. However, critics do not take into account the fact that blockchains at the heart of crypto are completely transparent, and ordinary fiat money is used in crimes much more actively.
Related posts
