In the ongoing saga of the congressional hearing on the Facebook backed Calibre payment network, my favorite speech of the whole proceeding is by far this from Congressman Tom Emmer who is one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus.
As many politicians are wont to do, Mr Emmer's language is somewhat complex and convoluted. Below, I have included the YouTube clip along with a summary of my understanding of what he is saying in plain English.
Tom Emmer starts by pointing out that congress has habitually ignored cryptocurrencies. He highlights that Bitcoin is now ten years old and this is the first time a congressional hearing has discussed a technology that:
like the internet, will upend the way we do everything in our lives.
He goes on to point out that it is unfortunate that some people in the united states government want to unnecessarily restrict blockchain technology
or even ban it... they fear change
through misunderstanding the realities of the benefits that blockchain innovations could have
for these united states.
He then goes on to point out that the conversation of suppression of cryptocurrencies has only come about through the advent of Facebook trying to create a project that doesn't fulfill the decentralized model of a true public blockchain.
He vehemently attacks Facbook's Libre as a centralized payment system, addressing the Facebook representative:
unfortunately, Mr Marcus... you and your company have decided to approach this undertaking with as equal a level of ignorance and misunderstanding as those who wish to quell any new developments in cryptocurrency.
People have concerns over how much data you have on them.... and now you want to be their money too. I hope members of this committee investigate the fact that quote 'the people already have options separate from your central control'.
Tom Emmer is basically saying, that the government should focus on supporting and understanding (possibly regulating) true open source blockchains, which is where the true innovation lies. He goes on to address the recent overly zealous attacks on cryptocurrency by US Secretary of Treasury, Steven Mnuchin by stating:
the dollar and all fiat backed currencies have been proven to be the largest means of illicit behavior and money laundering.
He goes on to say that there is no way to suppress the freedom of people to continue to make open blockchain networks to remove centralized influence and the manipulation of middle men. He categorically states that Libre (facebook crypto) in fact relies on middle men.
He finishes up by saying that this is an incredible opportunity for government officials to learn about the mechanisms and benefits of real cryptocurrencies.
Conclusion
I find this speech to be incredibly reassuring and a sign that things are moving toward some type of adoption by government and regulators. Tom Emmer is one of the representatives set up by the US government to research blockchain tech and cryptocurrency to assess it's viability as a innovative/beneficial technology. In stating this pro Bitcoin/anti Libre stance, he is essentially showing an indication of some logical understanding of the technology in the higher regions of the american government. This can only be a good thing for all legitimate blockchain projects and cryptocurrencies!
This summary is an opinion piece. The information provided here is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered as any type of financial and/or investment advice.
He sounds like he knows what he's talking about!
Posted using Partiko Android
Ha ha, yeah... let's hope they listen to voice of reason.
Given who America's el presidente is I'm not sure that's gonna happen any time soon. next thing they'll be building a blockchain wall to keep BTC out 😅
Posted using Partiko Android
I sincerely hope that the congress makes the right types of decisions with regards to cryptocurrency regulations. it is high time, the world learns more about what blockchain means before more centralised entities like facebook will give them a tarnished version
100% right. I've had long concerns about both government and corporate entities appropriating blockchain tech to pervert it into something they can control. That's their primary worry, control. BTC isn't controllable in the traditional sense that they're used to... and it terrifies them. I must be the only person I've spoken to so far who wants to see libre get quashed.
I personally don't think it's the golden light of adoption everyone else seems to think Rather Facebook's libre could halt adoption (of real cryptocurrency) in its tracks and lead to some type of dystopian nightmare where fbook con 90% of the population into thinking that libre is blockchain. Basically, all of the financial freedoms that real public blockchain databases provide diluted by this 'libre' watered down corporate led facimile of a cryptocurrency. Plus, imagine the power the companies who ran the nodes would have. All financial data recorded, with Facebook already holding a sht tone of personal information on everyone.
Fck that.
Thank you so much for participating in the Partiko Delegation Plan Round 1! We really appreciate your support! As part of the delegation benefits, we just gave you a 3.00% upvote! Together, let’s change the world!
Hi @raj808!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 4.645 which ranks you at #1772 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has improved 17 places in the last three days (old rank 1789).
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 132 contributions, your post is ranked at #37.
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server
Could congress actually ban crypto though? Calling it treason or something? I mean they made it illegal for companies to do business with Huwai, and they don't allow any banks to work with Iran... so couldn't they employ a similar tactic with crypto?
I love what this guy's saying, but I really don't see any reason why the government would want to support crypto... I guess unless Facebook lobbies like crazy.
No, I don't think they could at all. But they can put a dent in the market by making it hard to operate in the US. But Asia has embraced crypto so much than they'd be shooting themselves in the foot I think.
Absolutely, I'm from the UK and we basically follow whatever the US does. But, the rest of the world would keep using the technology. For me, what makes it bullet proof is blockchain decentralized database. Cryptocurrencies are just one application, and an application that governments don't like because they can't control it.
Me either, but they can't stop it... they can only drive it underground ;-)
Excellent Raj, what a positive conclusion you have found out of all the Libra reports from US govt.
You got a 35.69% upvote from @ocdb courtesy of @raj808! :)
@ocdb is a non-profit bidbot for whitelisted Steemians, current max bid is 20 SBD and the equivalent amount in STEEM.
Check our website https://thegoodwhales.io/ for the whitelist, queue and delegation info. Join our Discord channel for more information.
If you like what @ocd does, consider voting for ocd-witness through SteemConnect or on the Steemit Witnesses page. :)
I didn't even know there was a Congressional Blockchain Caucus. I think that's encouraging as it is. But his comments do ring true, and bring some much-needed clarity to the table. They are not going to stop people from working on blockchain technology and using it to innovate. Even to attempt that foolish endeavor is ridiculous. I think even Republicans are going to be beating the blockchain and crypto drum within a decade.
I know, right! And you're unlikely to see Emmer's speech in any American mainstream media because... well ha ha you guys really like to keep your media Orwellian over the other side of the pond 😉
I very much swing to the left politics wise (lol tbh I'm an anarchist of a type) but I agree that even republicans might jump on board... especially when they start to understand the money making potential of blockchain tech. But to my mind it's just inevitable that this technology will become the next iteration of the internet. That's why western governments need to wake up and embrace it sooner rather than later. You better believe Asian governments are learning about and developing blockchain tech.
For me, the cryptocurrency question is about a loosening of control, which government and establishment banking will never accept without a fight. This is where the distinction between blockchain (decentralised database) and crypto becomes so important. You can't really have one without the other at this point, but I feel like the sell to get government on board is to show the many possibilities of blockchain tech beyond transfer of value.
Tbh, I'm hopeful that they don't get too deep into it until certain humanitarian applications I can see for blockchain happen. If government get involved too early, they will steer the development away from those world changing (improving) applications to try and keep as much power as possible.
These are just my thoughts, and I'm aware that most of steem are firmly over on the right side of the fence 😉
But as an example of what I'm trying to get at above, let's look at how ordinary people in Venezuela have used crypto to take a small measure of power back and alleviate their extreme poverty. That would have been impossible ten years ago. Things would have been much worse for the ordinary people of Venezuela, and possibly a lot more violence and civil war. At the end of the day, if you can improve things for yourself by moving outside of governmental fiscal control when the shit hits the fan, as it did in Venezuela, then it changes the balance of power... which I find fascinating. I sincerely hope that crypto keeps gaining adoption for these reasons; social and economic changes on a global scale.
Ha ha, anyway... I've entered rant mode. Just finished my morning coffee 😂☕
P.s. I'm going to put this article up on narrative later today as I think it's an interesting balance against all the FUD going on around crypto at the moment.
I think you hit it on the head @raj808. Once those in power realize that blockchain technology has the power to correct the excesses of the 20th century and that it is unstoppable, they will have no choice but to support its development. I'm looking forward to the day.
you are a brilliant man and your post also.i like your post very very very very much.