John Olsen is the New York state director of the Blockchain Association, which represents the interests of the cryptocurrency industry. The association has advocated for reform of the state’s restrictive cryptocurrency licensing regime and lobbied against the passage of the Bitcoin Mining He moratorium bill, but to no avail.
What Benefits Does Cryptocurrency Bring to New York State?
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain have begun to open new doors to financial assets, providing an alternative to traditional financial services for the unbanked and unbanked. As an industry, we really want to promote general financial literacy and financial education programs to educate people about the capabilities of cryptocurrencies and blockchains, and instead of going through traditional banks and financial institutions. I’m trying to be able to navigate the financial path. Despite the challenges in New York, I think more and more people are embracing cryptocurrency as a digital asset and as an investment, a long-term investment to watch.
Will Bitcoin really be a good long-term investment, going from a value of over $60,000 by the end of 2021 to around $20,000 this year?
I think the last year has shown that the cryptocurrency market is still very new at this point, but highly speculative. There is no question about it. If you invest in Bitcoin during its heyday, you can lose a significant amount of money. But that is the nature of speculative markets. If you buy Netflix and a lot of tech stocks, you’ll find that you’re going to lose money in the same way. 2018 was just a bad year for the market in general.
It’s been a very difficult time for the industry, but it’s also an opportunity to weed out bad actors like we saw last year, and an opportunity to educate policymakers about the breadth and diversity of the industry, rather than just talking about it. About bitcoin or bitcoin mining.
Speaking of bitcoin mining, did you support Rep. Anna Keres’ moratorium on bitcoin mining?
No, we strongly opposed the bill. From a policy perspective, the bill looked like a solution in search of a problem. But more specifically, considering the use of energy, the bill was only for cryptocurrencies. Proponents would say, well, this was our attempt to prevent the reburning of old peak plants in New York State. There was never any sense that the model Greenidge was adopting would be one that would be accepted on a large scale. And some supporters, even members of Congress, would not be surprised if they tried to ban all cryptocurrency mining in New York. Banning bitcoin mining outright in New York would be overkill in my opinion in terms of addressing some of the challenges that come with this new industry. Picking winners and losers when it comes to energy use is bad policy.
Do you think politicians have become more hostile to the crypto industry over the past year?
It’s hard to tell how much people paid attention to anything other than the FTX headlines. So increased stigma? It is possible. I think you just reinforced the general opinion of the opposition. But what we’ve found in talking to newer and younger members is that they’re more receptive to the underlying technology and its potential applications. Things get a little more exciting as the industry moves away from the speculative nature of cryptocurrencies, the ability to buy and sell currencies on exchanges, and begins to look at the real-world utility of some of the projects these native tokens fund. Become. And people are a little more open to possibilities.
