(
CoinDesk) Edmund C. Moy, the former director of the US Mint — the government
body responsible for producing the country’s physical coins, made waves
in the
bitcoin community this week when he took to Twitter to voice his
enthusiasm for digital currencies.
Moy’s comments were issued in response to the most recent
$2.6bn Credit Suisse settlement, in which the Switzerland-based banking giant pleaded guilty to helping clients evade taxes.
In light of this news, the
38th Director of the US Mint went so far as to suggest that digital currency could provide the answer to current problems in the financial system, writing:
However, Moy didn’t stop there. The former member of the Department of Homeland Security took to his blog on 23rd May to issue an entire post on how bitcoin is leading to “a revolution in payment systems”.
Moy wrote:
“Bitcoin,
and the ideas behind it, will be a disruptor to the traditional notions
of currency. In the end, currency will be better for it.”
The
full post lightheartedly addressed bitcoin and its strengths and
weaknesses, with Moy offering a perhaps surprisingly optimistic
assessment of how the technology will impact the global financial
marketplace.
Bitcoin removes government monopolies
Perhaps
most notably, Moy suggested that digital currencies can even help
prevent some of the more severe drawbacks associated with fiat
currencies. In particular, he predicts it will eliminate what he views
as the government monopoly on money, writing:
“It has a
low risk of collapse unlike a sovereign government’s currency (just ask
the Greeks or more broadly, the European Union).”
Moy acknowledged this as a positive, even if he realized the innovation would likely threaten his former employer.
He added: “You can mine your own bitcoins. No mint needed!”
Bitcoin an innovative means of exchange
Moy was also enthusiastic about bitcoin’s potential to offer a new way for global consumers to transact, stating:
“As
a medium of exchange, bitcoin offers several unique innovations to
currency: global nature, infinite divisibility and easy to carry.”
Calling
today’s transaction systems “archaic”, he argued that bitcoin’s ability
to divide effortlessly would allow for new methods of monetization via
micropayments, and that it could eliminate existing barriers to global
markets.
Bitcoin will be a safe store of value
Moy was equally positive about bitcoin as a store of value, saying that he believes bitcoin’s
price will become more stable as it’s adopted by mainstream consumers.
However,
he took aim at critics of the idea who believe that government-backed
alternatives are perhaps more secure, saying that the US dollar is
driven mostly by market demand.
As an added benefit, he theorized
bitcoin could even allow governments the ability to dedicate more time
to monetary policy that could positively impact their economies should
it reach its full potential.
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