Steve Bannon returns to make waves: "Bitcoin is Disruptive Populism", says
Steve Bannon puts himself back under the beacons of attention in the crypto community. Cataloged as a "conservative agitator", he was an advisor to the political campaign that brought Donald Trump to the White House, and later expelled from the government due to a book where he expressed some opinions about the president's son and other people in a derogatory manner. Now, Bannon is quite involved in the cryptocurrency issue.
The former member of Trump's cabinet is enthusiastic about the potential of virtual currencies, and it is not for less; the disruptive nature embodied in these new digital assets faced by traditional and centralized banking systems fits very well with their libertarian beliefs.
The New York Times interviewed Bannon, who said about the movement of the crypts :
"It's disruptive populism. Take control of the central authorities. It is revolutionary. It was pretty obvious to me that, unless you had some control over your currency, all these political movements were going to be in debt to those who provided the money. "
Over the past months, Bannon has been meeting at his home and other sites with many crypto enthusiasts and thinkers. He confessed to the New York Times that he has a "good participation" in Bitcoin and is interested in launching other cryptocurrencies around the world.
Bannon has speculated about creating a virtual currency called "deplorable currency," based on the unpleasant nickname used by Hillary Clinton to describe Trump supporters during the presidential campaign. However, Bannon remains low profile when working with ICOs, in order not to attract too much attention to their projects from the mainstream media.
Bannon's interest in cryptocurrencies is being used, as usual, to please supporters of the FUD game (fear, uncertainty and doubt). The media points out how nationalist and extremist groups, as well as (apparently) extreme right-wing criminal affiliations, have integrated the crypts into their activities.
One of these players is Julia Ebner, a researcher at Strategic Dialogue, a left-wing defense group that says:
"Neonazis, identity and jihadists are not lacking incentives to invest. They share anti-establishment sentiment with libertarians, the desire to make quick money with those who speculate and, with criminals, the need to find alternative routes for their transactions. "
The reality is that, like any other tool, cryptocurrencies are neither good nor bad in themselves. It all depends on how they are used. However, virtual currencies allow individuals to exercise much greater control over their economic destiny than currently allowed by centralized financial policies and institutions.
Ultimately, it may or may not be in accordance with the policy of Steve Bannon, but the undeniable fact is that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are examples of "disruptive populism", and, for many people, that means that something good is coming.