Why Tyler Winklevoss claims Bitcoin is no longer at risk of being outlawed in the United States.

According to the CEO of Gemini, Bitcoin has become too intertwined with the environment for a ban to be feasible.

The US government has increased its scrutiny of cryptocurrency in recent years, but an outright ban on Bitcoin is now impossible, according to Gemini CEO and co-founder Tyler Winklevoss.

“I think if we were back in 2013, this would be sort of an open question,” Winklevoss said on a Friday episode of the What Bitcoin Did podcast when asked about legislation and a Bitcoin (BTC) ban.

“I think that the U.S. will never outlaw Bitcoin. There’s too much precedent that’s been set in the courts. The Coinflip order, which was a CFTC [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] enforcement action which was upheld in the courts, considered Bitcoin a commodity like gold.”

In 2015, the CFTC applied to Bitcoin as a currency when engaging with Derivabit, a Bitcoin derivatives trading site. According to the CFTC, Derivabit, a product of Coinflip, was not in compliance with the regulatory body at the time.

“We are a New York trust corporation controlled by the New York Department of Financial Services,” Winklevoss said of Gemini. A Bitcoin ban will need “so much undoing,” he said, adding:

“You’re talking about like companies that are providing careers, building the economy, some of them are going public. They’re going to become drivers of the stock market. To unroll that back is so unlikely to me. Of course it’s not 0%, but it might as well be.”

With the launch of Bitcoin in 2009, the crypto space as we know it today started. Since then, the commodity has given rise to an entire ecosystem, with big players being active in a number of capacities. Regulatory discussions have since progressed in terms of providing and applying crypto-related rules.

Regulators were also listed as stakeholders by Winklevoss. They are concerned with the well-being of businesses and customers, but others may keep BTC and consider it beneficial. He also mentioned the pattern of crypto business leaders entering government positions.

“I think it’s like such a strong amount of people who believe in this in the U.S. that I think it’s like next to 0% chance that that sort of gets rolled back for whatever reason,” he said, adding:

“I think the same for the U.K. and Europe. Singapore we’re in a licensing process with the MAS [Monetary Authority of Singapore], their top regulator there. They are embracing it. All of the jurisdictions that are free markets and open markets and believe in capitalism, believe in Bitcoin, believe in crypto, and I think see it as an opportunity more than anything than a threat.”

He also noted that halting Bitcoin would ultimately necessitate imposing substantial constraints on the internet as a whole, and would have an effect on other economic facets.

In terms of crypto executives entering government offices, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network recently named a former Chainalysis executive as its acting head.

 

 206 Interactions,  6 today