The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Community Affairs held a hearing on the state of cryptocurrency and blockchain. The two invited witnesses were Coin Center Director of Research Peter Van Valkenburgh and NYU Professor of Economics Nouriel Roubini.
Mr. Van Valkenburgh lauded the benefits of decentralized computing (i.e., blockchain) but criticized the surrounding "hype." According to Mr. Van Valkenburgh, the terminology used to describe blockchain is often "vague and undefined," leading to an overall lack of public understanding. In particular, he criticized the public perception that blockchain is the "solution to any number of social, economic, organizational, or cybersecurity problems." However, Mr. Van Valkenburgh advocated for the continued exploration of decentralized computing, and advised regulators to take a "light-touch approach" in order to allow the technology to develop "unfettered."
Conversely, Dr. Roubini criticized cryptocurrencies as the "mother of all bubbles," and called the underlying blockchain technology the "most over-hyped - and least useful - technology in human history . . . nothing more than a glorified spreadsheet or database."
In a statement given at the hearing, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) expressed concern about the potential for fraudulent activity in cryptocurrencies and said that the malign effects of blockchain on our society are currently more prominent than the benefits. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) said that the "regulatory and oversight questions still remain," but added that he wanted to better understand the opportunities and challenges regarding blockchain in order to regulate more effectively.
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