Blockchain Is Great, But Identity Politics Could Ruin It All, Says Bill Clinton

Published 5 years ago on October 02, 2018

Blockchain Is Great, But Identity Politics Could Ruin It All, Says Bill Clinton

With the Ripple Swell conference now underway, Bill Clinton, the conferences keynote speaker has spoken out about his view on blockchain technology and his optimism regarding the blockchain as a power for the future. In his speech, Clinton remains very bullish about the possibilities of the blockchain, although does highlight some concerns in the way governments are handling it, stating that bad economic and social policy could one day destroy the whole industry, if we allow regulators to clamp down. Clinton, an ex-President of the United States is well known for his bullish outlook on the blockchain and cryptocurrency. It is alleged that Clinton received his first ever Bitcoin as a gift from Matthew Roszak in 2016 and since then has paid a huge amount of interest in the industry, hence why Ripple have chosen Clinton to talk at the Swell conference. He’s a prolific figure, one that has found a passion and a love for this technology. According to Cointelegraph, Clinton has referred to the ‘permutations and possibilities of blockchain’ as staggeringly great:

"This whole blockchain deal has the potential it does only because it is applicable across national borders [and] income groups. The permutations and possibilities are staggeringly great.”

Though, Clinton does worry about some of the impact that future regulations could have, stating that:

“We could ruin it all by negative identity politics and economic and social policy. You think about that."

This is a very poignant statement to make and one that could get a lot of people thinking. It almost sounds like Clinton is talking about an environmental disaster - he’s putting the responsibility of the future of the blockchain, not in the hands of the technology, but in the hands of us and the regulators, as people and as decision makers. No matter how good and how powerful the technology is, if regulators don’t allow the blockchain to flourish, the whole technology could be, as Clinton puts it, ruined. Fair regulation, fair economic and fair social policy as Clinton suggests is what is needed to ensure the blockchain is able to flourish.References Cointelegraph

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Adrian Barkley

Adrian is an avid reader who first stumbled across Crypto after reading 'The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains' by Antony Lewis in 2018. Since then, Adrian has immersed himself within the industry, and has a real interest in Enterprise Blockchain solutions.