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The Chicago Sun Times sat down with cryptocurrency experts from across the realm at a gathering Thursday night. Scroll Down for More
Jennifer O’Rourke, who works for the state of Illinois as its “blockchain business liaison,” said the technology is changing the way we interact with government.
“What we’re talking about here is a technology that has the ability to disintermediate some of the trusted participants in a transaction,” she said. “But do I personally think that it has the potential to remove the government from the process? I do not.”
O’Rourke says that traditional financial institutions can be bypassed with cryptocurrencies but that some form of regulation may be necessary.
Most people want drivers on the road to have licenses, she said, and want drugs to be regulated by the FDA.
Rumi Morales, a venture capitalist who specializes in digital currency, sees a decentralized blockchain much more appealing with little if any government intrusion.
She explained that the technology is changing so quickly that it’s difficult for regulators to keep pace.
Colleen Sullivan, a partner at CMT Digital Holdings, stressed how solid blockchain has remained over a nine year span, never once being hacked.
Jimmy Odom, CEO of Bit Capital Group, a startup that works with cryptocurrency miners, expressed concern over the lack of education associated with the cryptocurrency space.
From the Sun Times:
Part of the problem, Odom said, is that the bitcoin craze is causing people to jump into the space without spending enough time educating themselves. He said he’s seen countless Reddit posts from people who’ve forgotten their seed phrases — the passcodes to their bitcoin wallets — and lost money as a result.
But he predicts that the risks associated with the blockchain will force people to educate themselves, creating “an environment of more responsible world citizens.”
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
