At the Bitcoin Policy Summit in Washington DC today, U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) emphasized the importance of the United States taking a leadership role in Bitcoin and not lagging behind in during a fireside chat with Club for Growth President David McIntosh.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Congressman Patrick McHenry says the US needs to be a leader in #Bitcoin 👏 pic.twitter.com/jC20GaurXe
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 9, 2024
“This is where the action is, this is a bastion of freedom,” McHenry stated when asked why he was speaking at the Bitcoin Policy Summit this morning. “The way I view Bitcoin is — what Satoshi brought into this world has been unstoppable. Every regime that has tried to shut it down as failed, even the Chinese communist party that tried to shut down Bitcoin couldn’t. And so it is an unstoppable piece of technology.”
McHenry, known for his advocacy of financial innovation and technology, emphasized the need for his collogues in office to become educated on Bitcoin, acknowledging the challenges of regulating this technology with uninformed policy makers.
“The dumbest way to try to obscure your transactions are to do them in public,” McHenry explained. “And the level of embarrassment when senators and members of the house ask questions about this on how to obscure these transactions. And when you have to explain to them that this is an open ledger that people can see the movement of value, and they don’t understand that…Cash is still king in illicit finance.”
The congressman further highlighted how “it is a much easier conversation” to have with fellow politicians if they were to read the Bitcoin white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto before coming together to legislate. McHenry said that the lack of understanding of Bitcoin amongst policy makers has resulted in them going down rabbit holes of misinformation. And that causes them to speak in truths while legislating, based off of that information.
Overall, McHenry’s message at the Bitcoin Policy Summit reflected a sense of urgency and opportunity, urging the United States to embrace its potential as a leader in the Bitcoin revolution and chart a course for a dynamic and innovative future in finance and technology.
“I’m trying to convince policy makers on the hill to embrace and for the United States to be leaders in, rather than fall behind. And I want to make sure you all hear that message clearly,” Congressman McHenry said.
For more information about the annual Bitcoin Policy Summit, including the full agenda and list of speakers, visit BPI’s website here. The official Bitcoin Policy Summit live stream can be found on YouTube and X (Twitter).