For a long time now, the role of government oversight in the world of crypto has been hotly contested and questioned across the community. Many people see the need for crypto and correctly point out that there are many currencies which work just fine with government regulation, but others are not sure.
It may not matter soon, however, as a number of choice comments by a government official recently suggested that regulation of crypto could be coming sooner rather than later.
Regulation Is Already Here?
Sir Jon Cunliffe is the Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, working for the Bank of England. He recently gave a speech on the topic “Reflections on DeFi, digital currencies and regulation”.
In his speech, he talked about the main themes of corporate governance and the importance of quality collateral in supervised and regulated firms before saying that these ideas did also apply to the crypto world.
His overarching thought was that taking the basic activities of crypto and bringing them in line with current regulatory frameworks would help a lot with protecting investors, protecting against risk, and innovating the industry. It was clear from his comments that Sir Cunliffe was firmly in favour of regulating crypto.
Does Crypto Need Regulation?
Unfortunately, this is all just fuel on the fire, which points towards renewed arguments by the community at large as to whether or not crypto needs regulation to function effectively. As an argument, it has effectively polarised the community in a way that few other issues are capable of doing.
Most people feel that the crypto community will ultimately benefit a lot from this influx of regulation because it opens up the possibility that the currency can be used across public life and maybe even take the first step towards becoming a decentralised currency.
However, the community also has a fair number of people who feel that the idea of crypto in the public eye is largely futile. Many argue that they can use the currency to purchase items across the web, which is enough, and that introducing government oversight will mark the beginning of the end of crypto as many know it. The regulations, they believe, will cripple the industry and render it ineffective and lacking in value. Many currencies will crash in value if they are exposed to the public eye.
Final Thoughts
We at Bitcoin Bible are unsure of what to think when it comes to regulations. We feel that if these sanctions and ideas are going to work, governments will need to work with us as a community to make sure that crypto gets the support it needs.
However, the likelihood of this happening is fairly slim. Ultimately, it will be a case of simply having to try and create a middle ground which appeases both the community and governments. We think these changes may take a while, and a lot of concessions will need to be made, so we also think it could take a while for crypto to come into the public eye.
