Republican leader in the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy spoke highly of Bitcoin in an interview with CNBC last week. Bitcoin is heading into the future and will continue to grow fundamentally, he said. According to the politician, governments had better prepare for this, because other countries such as China are doing that.

McCarthy spoke on CNBC’s Squawk Box. There he was asked if he thinks that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell are well informed about Bitcoin. Both recently made headlines for comments related to Bitcoin. The general tenor was that bitcoin is mainly speculative and not to be taken seriously, but McCarthy disagrees.

?ǣThey tried to ignore it [Bitcoin] hoping it would go away,?ǥ he replied, ?ǣI think Jamie Dimon can tell you about that, he was mistaken about that . ?ǥ He is referring to statements by the CEO of JP Morgan, who in 2017 called Bitcoin fraudulent and worse than the tulip mania, and said that he would fire employees who would invest in it.

Since then, however, JP Morgan has completely turned around and analysts at the bank are making high price predictions, offering bitcoin-related financial products and recommending that clients invest 1% of their portfolio in bitcoin. Jamie Dimon prefers not to talk about his earlier statements these days.

?ǣThis [Bitcoin] is headed for the future,?ǥ McCarthy argues, ?ǣThey shouldn???t ignore it. Not only should they learn more about it ??? but fundamentally it continues to grow. And those who regulate, those on behalf of the government policymakers better understand what that means for the future, because other countries are moving forward – China in particular.”

Above: A segment of the statements can be viewed on Twitter

The Chinese government has been researching the technology for years and is at the forefront of developing its own digital currency. “I don’t want America to fall behind,” warns McCarthy, “I want the next century to be ours. That’s why I want to look forward and not backward, and not bury my head in the sand.”

Recently, former CIA director Michael Morrell and influential investor Peter Thiel also pointed to the risk of lagging behind China.

“I Like Bitcoin”

As chairman of the Republican faction in the House of Representatives, McCarthy’s endorsement carries some weight. Yet his enthusiasm for Bitcoin is not a new development, because in 2019 McCarthy also expressed his support. “I like Bitcoin” , he declared at the time.

The reason was the discussion about Facebook’s intended digital currency, then called Libra but now renamed Diem . McCarthy then expressed concerns about privacy violations and abuse of power by Facebook and the lack of decentralization. The digital currency would create monopolies and be the opposite of Bitcoin, highlighting Bitcoin’s strengths. “What you really want is competition. I want to see competition and people who are able to work their way up. I want to see decentralization ,” he said at the time.

McCarthy finds the fact that the US may have less control over the financial system due to decentralization a challenge, but no reason to reject the technology. At the time, he also warned of the risk of China overtaking the US.

“Look, I’m very concerned about the dollar, but also when you look to the future, we should be leading the way. You shouldn’t be afraid of technology, but you should try to understand it in a broader sense. And how we can prepare so that tomorrow is better than today ,” said McCarthy.

Bitcoin & government

Bitcoiners can be found everywhere, including governments and politicians. For example, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis. Or recently appointed Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks, who formerly worked at Coinbase and new Securities & Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler previously taught blockchain at MIT. Together with ‘Crypto mom’ Hester Peirce, two of the five SEC seats are occupied by bitcoin-friendly commissioners.

In the Netherlands and in European politics, proponents are less visible, but that does not mean that they are not there. For example, it was recently revealed that officials in Ukraine jointly own a total of 46,351 BTC in their private capacity; at the current exchange rate about EUR 2.5 billion. Although that says little about other countries, Bitcoin is probably no more popular in Ukraine than elsewhere in Europe.

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