By Tobi Loba
Two of the most popular Bitcoin proponents, Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital and Dan Morehead of Pantera, have weighed the chances at governments’ disposal to outlaw the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Bitcoin (BTC).
In a new interview on the What Bitcoin Did podcast, Dan Morehead stated that there was a time when the U.S. was opened to ban Bitcoin, but nothing of such can play out again.
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He said:
“I think [Bitcoin has] reached escape velocity. There was a time when regulators or even a monopoly of banks could have shut it down. It’s now way bigger than that. I think one of the big announcements was when China announced their version of it. It’s game on now.
Somebody is going to build a blockchain-based payments system. China’s going to build one. Bitcoin has one. There’s going to be some others. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. It’s out.”
In agreement to Morehead’s assertion, Mike Novogratz said the institutional adoption of Bitcoin is a big factor that shows that the leading cryptocurrency will not vanish.
Novogratz noted:
“The fact that [Stanley Druckenmiller] came out publicly on TV and said, ‘I’m into Bitcoin, not as much as gold, but I’m into Bitcoin’ is a monster statement.
“You get him in, Paul [Tudor] Jones in, so many other prominent investors in, there’s no longer any stigma to being in. And as you get them in, as you get Fidelity doing custody, all these institutions start coming in.
“They’ve got a vested interest and they know all the people in charge. You get the money class involved, it’s harder for the regulators to just say no.
“It’s politically unpopular. Bitcoin is owned by 100 million people globally. I remember when they tried to ban it in Korea and the next day there was a giant protest at the Blue House in Korea.
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“I think it feels similar here. I do think the page of the book has shifted. It doesn’t mean you’re going to have all green lights on regulation.
“We’re watching really carefully who the next chairman of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is. Really the SEC and the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) are the two big jobs.
“The Secretary of Treasury is also important, not necessarily from a regulatory perspective, but from a tone perspective.”