This is a transcribed excerpt from the “Bitcoin Magazine Podcast”, hosted by P and Q. In this episode, they are joined by Andy Edstrom CFA, CFP and advisor to Swan Bitcoin to talk about government regulations, how to expose your family to bitcoin, the right time to buy and what’s going on with the global economy right now.
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Q: I would just like to get your opinion on the ongoing debate between proof of work and proof of status at the moment.
Andy Edstrom: Yeah, I think it’s partly a story of people in Congress and their staff getting up to speed on how this all works. I think this is partly a case study in a major change of a network, which also carries the classification as a safe versus no.
I think it must push people to sharpen their pencils. I think and hope Bitcoin will remain a non-partisan issue, relatively speaking, as I hope we continue to have support from both the Democratic and Republican sides. However, I recognize that it is very possible that it is swinging one way – we could probably guess which way it is. I also think it’s good for bitcoin in the long run because I think bitcoin’s ethos of autonomy, freedom, doesn’t tread on me, and the right to own your assets and function in society in as a free person, I think everything plays into what it means to be an American. It’s going to be a long battle, I think. It’s going to be a long process.
People keep talking about upcoming legislation, it will be like sweeping in general and covering all of crypto or even certain sub-segments. I don’t think it’s likely that we’ll get this legislation, even given the fact that the White House has made this request for a study and reports have come out.
In a sense, the engine of legislation moves slowly. The engine of executive orders and things the president might do has moved, but I don’t really see a fix anytime soon when it comes to how everything is regulated. If you’re talking about specific bans or limitations, that’s all you start with is that Bitcoin exists. Lots of people like that. They find value in it, they find it useful. Every time you try to reduce or limit or ban that, you’re going to see the “Orange Army” marching to the rescue, we’re going to mobilize the troops.
That’s a pretty large intolerant minority at this point. I think any group in any part of government that tries to crack down too hard on Bitcoin is going to face a lot of opposition. We have seen this before with various attempts to limit access or treat minors as brokers. I think it was this event that happened, I mean almost two years ago, and got a bunch of big letter-writing campaigns going and people calling Congress people. We have already seen the political power Bitcoiners can wield, and I think that power only increases over time.