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Former US Comptroller of the Currency: The US Dollar has no value support, the government cannot kill Bitcoin

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Former US Comptroller of the Currency: The US Dollar has no value support, the government cannot kill Bitcoin

The former Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the United States, Brian Brooks, who has been out of the spotlight for a long time, recently pointed out in an interview that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have a certain value or consensus supporting them, which the US dollar may not have. This contradicts the opinions expressed by the Federal Reserve Chairman earlier.

Powell: Bitcoin Lacks Intrinsic Value

Brian Brooks was interviewed by CNBC on 3/26 and was asked about Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's recent criticism of Bitcoin.

Previously, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, speaking at an online summit hosted by the Bank for International Settlements on 3/22, stated:

Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are highly volatile and therefore not really useful as a store of value, as they have no intrinsic value support. They are more of a speculative asset. The positioning of cryptocurrencies leans more towards being an alternative to gold rather than the U.S. dollar.

Is the U.S. Dollar a Store of Value?

Even the CNBC host expressed confusion about Powell's remarks, asking:

“For thousands of years, gold has been considered a store of value. Powell says Bitcoin is like a substitute for gold but not a store of value. Does this mean the Fed is suggesting the U.S. dollar is a store of value?”

Brooks responded:

There are many reasons why the public has flocked to Bitcoin over the past year, including the Federal Reserve significantly increasing the supply of the U.S. dollar, which means the value of the dollar has decreased by at least 40% compared to the previous year, and this is one of the reasons why the public chooses Bitcoin.

No Backing for the U.S. Dollar

Brooks then emphasized: "The U.S. dollar may be the one without anything backing it." He believes this is evident because former U.S. President Richard Nixon abandoned the gold standard in 1971, stating:

Cryptocurrencies are actually supported by the underlying network. Whether you buy Bitcoin or other tokens, what you are buying is a part of the financial network, a financial network that can transact various things.

Brooks pointed out that the growth of on-chain transactions in the past two years is a key factor in the current cryptocurrency market cap nearing $2 trillion. "I believe in people's wisdom, I believe people are telling us that these networks are the future direction of financial development, and I want to be involved in that," he said.

The Uniqueness of Bitcoin

Brooks further emphasized the uniqueness of Bitcoin, stating:

Bitcoin is the first currency to demonstrate that financial services can be completed without the need for a banking system, based on a network. Many cryptocurrencies are built around this concept. Bitcoin is also the first cryptocurrency to receive early adoption.

Brooks believes that although many people feel that Bitcoin falls short in various aspects, he just wants to emphasize that on the 25th, Bitcoin's trading volume was approximately $610 billion, according to CoinGecko, showing $730 billion, which is proof of its widespread adoption.

Will the Government Ban Bitcoin?

Brooks' praise for Bitcoin also raised questions from the host, who asked: "Can it stand up to the government? If Yellen and Powell think this is unacceptable, do they have the ability to ban Bitcoin, or is Bitcoin too big to fail?"

Brooks responded:

You can certainly stand up to the government. Remember, every mayor in the U.S. and every taxi association tried to ban Uber, but fifty million Americans wanted Uber, so now we have Uber, and it will be the same thing.

Brian Brooks took over as Acting Comptroller of the Currency at the OCC under the Trump administration on May 29, 2020, and officially became Comptroller on November 27. In the past six months, crypto-friendly policies, such as financial institutions being able to provide cryptocurrency custody services to the public freely and banks being able to handle stablecoin business, were issued during his tenure.

As of now, the successor to this position is still pending.