Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein says that if he were a regulator, he would be “hyperventilating” at the success of Bitcoin. While giving his two cents about the future of Bitcoin, he seemed amazed at how relaxed regulators have been about Bitcoin.
The former Goldman Sachs boss was speaking on Bitcoin after being asked about the potential future of the digital asset class and potential medium of exchange. The question posed to him came on the backdrop of BTC appearing to go main stream, as a raft of big name institutions appear to be going long on it.
Store of value element “tough”
“It could work,” Blankfein admitted. He then explained that “at the end of the day, currency is supposed to accomplish a couple of things. It’s supposed to be a medium of exchange and a store of value.” He then took low-key shots at Bitcoin’s perceived status as a store of value by referring to it as “a store of value that can move 10% in a day, that if you lose the code or you lose the slip of paper, it’s lost forever, or if somebody takes it from you, how will you know. So the store of value element is a little bit tough.”
The former Goldman Sachs CEO also took shots at BTC being a prospective medium of exchange. Blankfein asserted that BTC as a store of value would also be difficult because according to him, it’s difficult to know who you are paying. In his words, once cannot know whether you’re paying the “North Koreans, Al Qaeda or the Revolutionary Guard.”
BTC should be reigned-in
Despite him playing BTC down, it appears not lost on him that BTC is growing in notoriety. He, therefore, added that incase Bitcoin started to live up to the hype, then it would need to be reigned-in. Blankfein sees danger in crypto’s privacy and sees the need to know who is getting paid in the financial system. He referred to 9/11 to highlight the need for monitoring who is getting paid and where funds are coming from.
In conclusion, the former Goldman Sachs CEO believes that Bitcoin undermines the transparency required in all financial systems. He added that if he were a regulator he would arm himself and prepare to deal with it.
Image Courtesy of bloomberg.com
