It wouldn’t be a proper parliamentary session without some opposition! 🧨
Although the hearing was mostly about how the technology works and opportunities it presents, MPs did raise concerns about the industry’s “secrecy and transparency.” 🥷
Bloc Québécois MP Gabriel Ste-Marie also expressed skepticism about cryptocurrency in general. He spoke in French, but here’s an English translation of what he said:
“I have reservations regarding crypto…I have a fear about recognizing them as legitimate currency and making them a legal currency…At this point they are assets and purely speculative…”
Many people believe cryptocurrency is used in illicit ways, which is a haunting reputation from the Silk Road era 😱. Today, the technology is much more sophisticated 🧐 because all activity that occurs on-chain is recorded and available to the public. Blockchains are called distributed ledger technology for this very reason. Every new block 🟦 filled with transactions that gets added to the chain 🔗 must correspond with the previous block, so there’s proper record and documentation that transactions occurred. 📝
When it comes to the so-called Freedom Convoy,
the CBC quoted Brian Mosoff who explained that those who donated from self-hosted wallets 👝can still be tracked — even if the funds weren’t frozen. This is because the platforms that are regulated, or in the process of becoming regulated, can work with officials to monitor for unusual activity. 🕵️ As soon as addresses and wallets that are red flagged 🚩 interact with regulated platforms, it becomes traceable. 👣
There’s also new software and companies like
Chainalysis that work with businesses and government agencies to monitor 🔍 for suspicious activity and ensure those who abuse the network are held responsible for their actions. 👮
Although there are some bad actors in the space, most of the activity that takes place is by people with good intensions who want to participate in this growing industry 🌱 and ensure its success. 🏆