Former US financial regulator J. Christopher Giancarlo, also known as ‘Crypto Dad’ for his support of cryptocurrencies, has announced the launch of a think tank to push the idea of digitizing the US dollar.
Boom Bust talks to international regulatory attorney Myles Edwards about the possibility of converting the greenback into a fully electronic currency using blockchain technology.
“There are tremendous hurdles,” he says, explaining that “60 percent of the world’s transactions happen based on the US dollar, so 21 million outstanding bitcoins cannot in any way replace paper currency or US currency itself.”
Edwards notes that if this was the case each bitcoin would be worth around $400,000. “So, there is a real disconnect with it.”
He also discusses privacy, adding that: “So, there’s privacy, there’s security, and of course what I always say: ‘How are you going to tax it?’”
The expert points out that bitcoin has always been known as the anonymous currency. “So, I think it’s great that we are going in that direction and China is already experimenting with it but it’s a really long road to get to where we need to be,” says Edwards.
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