Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday said the US government’s best policy when it comes to regulating the crypto market is that of avoiding attempts to control it.
Speaking at the Code Conference in California, Musk claimed that governments can not destroy the crypto sector.
“It is not possible to, I think, to destroy crypto, but it is possible for governments to slow down its advancement,” he said in response to a question from the NYT’s Kara Swisher who asked the Tesla & SpaceX CEO whether the U.S. government should regulate the volatile crypto space.
“I would say – do nothing….just let it fly,” Musk said.
Musk, who back in February announced a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC), is bullish on the role of crypto in potentially facilitating a paradigm shift in trade finance utilizing blockchain technology. But he acknowledged that crypto doesn’t have all the answers in fixing legacy money system issues.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m a massive cryptocurrency expert,” said Musk. “I think there’s some value in cryptocurrency, but I wouldn’t say it’s the second coming of the Messiah.”
Musk also addressed China’s latest crypto crackdown, suggesting that electricity shortages could partly have been the reason behind it.
“A lot of South China right now is having random power outages because the power demand is higher than expected. Crypto mining might be playing a role in that,” he said, noting that the decentralized nature of crypto may be a challenge for China’s communist party.
“I suppose cryptocurrency is fundamentally aimed at reducing the power of a centralized government,” Musk said. “They don’t like that.”
Reference: CNBC
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