Cryptodad CFTC Chairman: “We Need to Respect This Generation’s Interest’ in Bitcoin”

The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said  this week that cryptocurrency is a generational interest and that  regulators need to treat it with respect, Reuters reported. 

J. Christopher Giancarlo, shared his thoughts on cryptocurrency  regulation at the Milken Institute Global Conference, which took place  in Los Angeles this week. 

 “We need to take a moment and respect this generation’s interest in this  new instrument (bitcoin),” Giancarlo said. “Not with derision, but with  a little bit of attention and respect and respond with policy  initiatives that really are thoughtful and forward looking.” 

Giancarlo has previously stated  he will retire after his five-year term ends next April and President  Trump appoints a successor  to his seat. Giancarlo compared consumer  interest in Bitcoin to the “cultural change” that the baby boomers  instituted when they arrived on the scene in the mid-20th century. 

He explained that younger investors have much less respect for  mainstream financial institutions due to growing up amidst the financial  crisis and said that they see Bitcoin as a way to remove these  middlemen from the financial system. 

 “There is something going on here that is generational. Just as the baby  boomer generation lost faith in the leaders that came before them and  tried to seek a cultural change in those days through sex, drugs and  rock and roll, I think there is a generation that also has lost faith in  us that led them through the financial crisis and they see technology  as a way of disintermediating institutions for which they don’t have a  great deal of respect. 

Giancarlo has issued similar statements about cryptocurrency investors  on multiple occasions, beginning with his remarks before a Senate committee hearing earlier this year. 

 Giancarlo’s heartfelt opening statement on cryptocurrency at that  hearing earned him the nickname “Cryptodad.” Since then he has taken to  using the hashtag #cryptodad when he tweets about cryptocurrency  embracing the moniker. 

Giancarlo has also expressed the need to move slowly with any federal  regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges noting that they should be  “carefully tailored” to specific risks such as fraud and market  manipulation and should strive to “do no harm” to the emerging digital  ledger technology (DLT) space. 

 “Appropriate federal oversight may include: data reporting, capital  requirements, cyber security standards, measures to prevent fraud and  price manipulation and anti-money laundering and ‘know your customer’  protections,” he will testify. “Overall, a rationalized federal  framework may be more effective and efficient in ensuring the integrity  of the underlying market.” 

Earlier this week, Giancarlo said that Bitcoin was “like gold” in  several respects, even though it is perhaps not ideal as a medium of  exchange. He further expanded stating Bitcoin has elements of all of the  different asset classes, CNBC reported. 

Bitcoin is currently trading at [FIAT: $9,445.76] according to Coin Market Cap at the time of this report. 

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