Millionaire That Called Bitcoin “Dead” Briefs Congress About Crypto
Erik Finman, a Bitcoin Millionaire, Speaks to Congress Reps
Erik Finman, the crypto wunderkind that became a Bitcoin (BTC) millionaire at 18, has purportedly just briefed a group of Congressmen and Congresswomen about the cryptocurrency asset class.
The weird thing is, in December, the cryptocurrency early adopter claimed that should Bitcoin not solve its scaling solutions and infights seen continually on Twitter, it is likely “dead” in the long run. He continued with Litecoin, claiming that the popular altcoin is experiencing its last minute of sunlight before it goes dark… forever.
It isn’t clear what exactly Finman portrayed, or if he continued to tacitly bash Bitcoin’s long-term prospects in the meeting with “Congressional Representative and staffers”, but he wrote in a tweet that he centered his thoughts and comments on how cryptocurrencies will affect America.
Again, the exact content of what he said is currently under wraps. But, in interviews with MarketWatch, Finman remarked that “if you aren’t a billionaire” in a decade, it’s your fault, specifically touching on the potential of blockchain technologies, Bitcoin, and related crypto assets. This implies that he expects for this industry to start and gobble up much of traditional finance and other facets of a business.
Per Ethereum World News’ search, the chief executive of fintech startup Metal Pay, who also deals heavily in cryptocurrencies, was also in attendance at this meeting. He purportedly discussed why it is important not to stifle crypto innovation too early.
Bitcoin Back in Style
This meeting, despite its seeming secrecy, accentuates that Bitcoin and the idea of cryptocurrency, which has ostensibly materialized in Libra, has entered the mainstream discourse, and is, to be frank, back in style. Over the past four weeks, some of the world’s most powerful people have name-dropped the terms “Bitcoin”, “Libra”, and “cryptocurrency”.
Just look to comments from Donald Trump, Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve, the head of the German central bank, G7 regulators, and much of Congress‘ committee on financial services. For those who want to read more about the President’s thoughts on this budding industry, which is merely a drop in the bucket of global finance, click here.
Unfortunately for cryptocurrency believers, the stance that many of these heavyweights in politics and finance have taken is negative, as they see digital assets as a potential threat to the traditional system due to its association with crimes and its ability to hurt the banking sector.
Although no clear regulatory steps have been taken yet, Steven Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, has recently warned that this nascent asset class may soon be subject to more heavy regulation.
