The Bitcoin interest is even bigger among the 21st century people. The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) declared this week that more and more people show interest in cryptocurrencies and the regulators should respect this decision.
J. Christopher Giancarlo, who was elected as a CFTC commissioner in 2014, directed the commission until August 2017. This week took place in Los Angeles the Milken Institute Global Conference, where Giancarlo expressed his opinion about the regulations:
“We need to take a moment and respect this generation’s interest in this new instrument (Bitcoin),” he said, according to a Reuters report. “Not with derision, but with a little bit of attention and respect and respond with policy initiatives that really are thoughtful and forward looking.”
The Bitcoin Interest is Even Bigger
Giancarlo, who declared that he will retire after his candidacy, compared consumer interest in Bitcoin to the “cultural change” that arrived in the mid- 20th century.
Giancarlo sustains that younger investors have less respect for traditional financial institutions. That’s why because they lived among financial crisis and they consider that Bitcoin can replace the traditional financial system.
He said:
“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 similarly-conciliatory statements about cryptocurrency investors on multiple occasions, beginning with his remarks before a Senate committee hearing earlier this year.
His heartfelt opening statement at that hearing earned him the nickname “Cryptodad,” and he has taken to using the hashtag #cryptodad when he tweets about cryptocurrency.
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.