A database with the personal information of over 5 million Salvadorans was recently leaked in a data breach forum. The database, which has been around since August and has recently been linked to Chivo, El Salvador’s national cryptocurrency wallet, has 144GB of data, including the full name, unique identity number, date of birth, address, and […]
Bitcoin News
JPMorgan CEO Advises Investors to Stay Away From Bitcoin — ‘My Personal Advice Is Don’t Get Involved’
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has advised investors to stay away from bitcoin. “My personal advice is don’t get involved,” he said. “But I don’t want to tell anyone what to do. It’s a free country.” The executive added that he doesn’t care about Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, embracing bitcoin, insisting that the cryptocurrency’s use cases are illicit activities.
JPMorgan CEO’s Bitcoin Investing Advice
The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, once again weighed in on bitcoin and crypto investing in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. His comments came amid growing institutional interest in crypto, with major asset management firms, like Blackrock, embracing BTC following the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Dimon began by stating: “Blockchain is real. It’s a technology. We use it. It’s gonna move money, it’s gonna move data, it’s efficient. We’ve been talking about that for 12 years too. And it’s very small.” Regarding cryptocurrencies, the JPMorgan boss said there are two types. “There’s a cryptocurrency which might actually do something,” Dimon explained. “If a cryptocurrency has an embedded smart contract in it, and then we can use it to buy and sell real estate, move data that may have value … tokenizing things that you do something with.”
The JPMorgan executive proceeded to describe the second type of cryptocurrency. “And then there’s one which does nothing, I called it pet rock, the bitcoin, something like that,” he stated, reiterating his previous statement about bitcoin’s use cases being illicit activities. “So on the bitcoin … there are use cases: AML, fraud, anti-money laundering, tax avoidance, sex trafficking — those are real use cases. And you see it being used for … maybe billion, a 0 billion a year for that. That is the end use case. Everything else is people trading among themselves.” Nonetheless, Dimon insisted, “I defend your right to do bitcoin,” elaborating:
My personal advice is don’t get involved. But I don’t want to tell anyone what to do. It’s a free country.
When questioned about the recent involvement of major asset managers like Blackrock and Fidelity in the bitcoin market, including Blackrock CEO Larry Fink becoming a big believer in BTC, Dimon responded:
Number one, I don’t care. So just please stop talking about this.
“And I don’t know what he [Larry Fink] would say about blockchain versus currencies that do something versus bitcoin that does nothing … But you know this is what makes a market. People have opinions, and this is the last time I’m ever going to state my opinion,” Dimon concluded.
Blackrock launched a spot bitcoin ETF, the Ishares Bitcoin Trust, last week with JPMorgan as a lead authorized participant. Dimon has long been a vocal bitcoin and crypto skeptic. He said in December last year that he would close crypto down if he were the government.
Dimon’s statements about bitcoin drew lots of comments on social media. Microstrategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, an avid Bitcoin advocate, commented on X: “If you encounter a strange new asset (‘Pet Rock’) circulating on a blockchain that ‘does nothing’ other than allow people to own something they can ‘trade among themselves’ without fear of debasement or theft, you have just discovered digital money.”
What do you think about the statements by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon about bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.
US Lawmaker Blasts SEC for Deliberately Obfuscating Crypto Regulations — Questions Chair Gensler’s Personal Agenda
A U.S. lawmaker has slammed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for having a deliberate policy preference to provide less clarity to the crypto market. “The SEC is not adhering to the law. That’s why it keeps losing in court,” said Congressman Tom Emmer as he questioned SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s personal agenda.
‘SEC Has a Deliberate Policy Preference to Provide Less Clarity to the Marketplace’
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s approach to the regulation of the crypto industry on Tuesday at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion titled “Fostering Financial Innovation: How Agencies Can Leverage Technology to Shape the Future of Financial Services.”
The lawmaker posted on social media platform X after the hearing:
If it wasn’t obvious before, it’s certainly obvious now: The SEC has a deliberate policy preference to provide LESS clarity to the marketplace instead of more clarity. Complete disservice to our great capital markets.
Among the witnesses who testified in the congressional hearing was Valerie A. Szczepanik, director of the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (Finhub).
Referencing a speech titled “Digital Asset Transactions: When Howey Met Gary” given by William Hinman in June 2018 when he was the director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC, Emmer explained that in this speech, Hinman discussed “how tokens can morph from securities to non-securities and he stated that ether is not a security.”
Citing Szczepanik’s review of Hinman’s draft speech, the congressman quoted her as saying at the time that providing “less detail in a speech is better because the concept of a token morphing from a security to a non-security was a new concept and would generate a lot of discussions.” Emmer emphasized:
You thought the SEC should give less clarity to the market rather than more … When the industry complains about a lack of clarity, I see this as a deliberate policy reference. Does the current SEC chair share that view?
Szczepanik declined to comment on the current chair’s view.
Congressman Emmer proceeded to ask Szczepanik whether Finhub has “issued any guidance since Chair Gensler took office to clarify how security laws apply to crypto.” After the Finhub director failed to provide an answer, Emmer said: “I take the answer is no, because it is no. It seems to be rulemaking through enforcement actions.”
Concerning Hinman’s speech stating that ether is not security, Emmer asked Szczepanik: “Is that your view today?” However, she declined to answer, stating that she couldn’t comment on a particular asset. The congressman concluded:
The SEC is not adhering to the law. That’s why it keeps losing in court. Does the chairman of the SEC tell you to adopt positions to further a specific goal, his own personal goal rather than allegiance to the law?
Szczepanik replied: “I can’t comment on any matters that are pending litigation.”
Emmer has repeatedly criticized the SEC and Chair Gensler for their enforcement-centric approach to regulating the crypto industry. In June, he joined Rep. Warren Davidson in supporting the SEC Stabilization Act that seeks to fire Gensler as the chair of the securities regulator. The House of Representatives recently adopted an amendment Emmer attached to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2024 that limits the authority of the SEC to carry out enforcement actions against the crypto industry. In November, the lawmaker from Minnesota urged Congress to spend resources to “bring more crypto activity and opportunities onshore to bolster U.S. national security.”
Do you agree with Congressman Tom Emmer about the SEC and do you think SEC Chair Gary Gensler has a personal agenda in regulating the crypto industry? Let us know in the comments section below.
Vitalik Buterin: ‘I Haven’t Sold ETH for Personal Gain Since 2018’
Vitalik Buterin has dismissed reports that he recently sold his crypto holdings and claimed to have not “sold ether for personal gain since 2018.” Buterin suggested to his followers that the reports often mistake his transfer of digital assets to charitable organizations as sales of his digital assets.
Transfers to Charitable Organizations
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, has dismissed suggestions that he recently liquidated part of his digital asset holdings. In a post on the decentralized social network Warpcast, Buterin told his followers to ignore reports which mistakenly conclude that his donations to charitable organizations are sales of crypto assets.
The remarks by Buterin came just days after media reports claimed that Kanro, a charity affiliated with the Ethereum co-founder, had moved 15.43 million USDC coins to a multi-signature wallet. In fact, as indicated by data, Kanro made two transfers, one to Coinbase (500,000 USDC coins) and one to Gemini (14.93 million).
Last year @CryptoRelief_ led by @sandeepnailwal allocated 0m to Covid research projects I wanted to fund
Sandeep and I discussed and jointly concluded these and other projects are high-impact and need follow through grants. Hence we decided to put 0m more to these projects
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) June 8, 2023
In his June 8, 2023, post on X (formerly Twitter), Buterin, who described Kanro as his “entity,” spoke of his desire to fund Covid research projects. At the time, Buterin revealed that Crypto Relief, a community-run fund, had “put in 90M USDC from the original $SHIB donation.” He then pledged to donate “10M of his own funds.”
‘Clickbait’ Allegations
However, in his Oct. 17 post on Warpcast, the co-founder claimed not to have sold his ETH holdings in the past five years. Buterin said:
“If you see an article saying ‘Vitalik sends XXX ETH to [exchange],’ it’s not actually me selling, it’s almost always me donating to some charity or nonprofit or other project, and the recipient selling because, well, they have to cover expenses. I haven’t ‘sold’ ETH for personal gain since 2018.”
Reacting to Buterin’s post, some Warpcast users agreed with him that most media reports have incorrectly characterized the donations as disposals. Others accused the media of deliberately producing inaccurate reports just so they can generate traffic to their sites. However, one user implied in his post that Buterin had in fact admitted to indirectly selling a portion of his ETH holdings.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Tales From the FTX Bean Bag: Witness Reveals Bankman-Fried’s Financial Missteps and Personal Entanglements
During the Sam Bankman-Fried trial this week, Adam Yedidia, a close friend and former employee of the ex-FTX chief, delivered his testimony. Yedidia had a brief stint as an intern at Alameda Research, a quantitative trading firm linked to FTX, before he transitioned to FTX’s Hong Kong office in early 2021. Additionally, he was part of the FTX executive team residing at the Albany Place luxury resort in the Bahamas.
Ex-FTX Developer Talks Billion Code Glitch and Use of Client Funds
On Thursday, Yedidia returned to the witness stand for his second day. As Wednesday’s session concluded, he revealed that he got a call informing him that Alameda was misusing client funds. Disturbed by this revelation, Yedidia stepped down. Soon after, FTX faced bankruptcy, grappling with liquidity challenges and failing to process client withdrawals.
Much of Yedidia’s questioning was broadcast on the social platform X, courtesy of Matthew Russell Lee from Inner City Press. Since his resignation, Yedidia hasn’t communicated with Sam Bankman-Fried, especially after discovering the mishandling of client funds. He further disclosed that FTX occasionally moved client deposits to an Alameda Research account without client awareness.
A technical glitch he discovered led to a staggering billion underestimation in Alameda’s liabilities. When Yedidia voiced his apprehensions to Bankman-Fried, he was pacified and told everything was in order. After rectifying the error himself, Yedidia briefed Bankman-Fried on the situation through Signal. However, that conversation was allegedly set to auto-delete and is now lost. Yedidia recalled Bankman-Fried’s advice to use the auto-delete feature, suggesting it was too risky to retain messages.
In the midst of the unfolding chaos, Yedidia initially assured Sam of his loyalty. However, his stance shifted upon learning that Alameda had tapped into client deposits to settle its debts, deeming it a “flagrantly wrong thing.” Yedidia also shed light on Bankman-Fried’s ties with Alameda’s CEO, Caroline Ellison, and their casual intimate encounters. When Bankman-Fried confided about his intimacy with Ellison, he sought Yedidia’s opinion on pursuing a relationship, to which Yedidia advised against.
U.K. Trader Discusses £100,000 Loss, Trust in Bankman-Fried, FTX
Yedidia took the stand under an immunity deal he struck with federal authorities. The agreement shields him from prosecution for any wrongdoings in this case, provided he doesn’t lie under oath. Alongside Yedidia, Marc-Antoine Julliard, a trader from the U.K., shared his account. Julliard revealed a staggering loss of about 100,000 pounds due to the FTX debacle.
Julliard held Bankman-Fried in high regard, believing FTX to be a reliable and credible exchange. He delayed his fund withdrawal from FTX, basing his decision on Bankman-Fried’s updates on X (previously known as Twitter). From those posts, Julliard was led to believe that withdrawals were proceeding smoothly. Unfortunately, this choice proved to be a bad mistake.
What do you think about Adam Yedidia’s testimony? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Argentina Opens Probe Into Worldcoin Personal Data Treatment Procedures
The government of Argentina informed it had opened an investigation into the data collection activities that Worldcoin is executing in the country. The Public Information Access Agency (AAIP), the data comptroller in the country, sent a letter to the Worldcoin Foundation requesting information about how the personal data of Wordcoin users is treated.
Argentina to Probe Worldcoin Data Treatment
The government of Argentina has announced that it started a probe into Worldcoin, the biometric ID and wallet project, and its data procedures. The Public Information Access Agency (AAIP), the data comptroller organization in the country, sent a letter on August 7 to the Worldcoin Foundation requesting data to verify that the company is taking all the measures available to protect the privacy of the citizens participating in the project.
The formal probe follows a legal complaint presented by Daniel Monastersky, partner at Data Governance Latam, based on possible violations of the Personal Data Protection Act and the lack of compliance in dealing with the biometric data collected.
In a recent press release, the government stated that if issues are found after this probe, they “will take appropriate steps to address any identified issues and ensure that the company complies with security and privacy standards.”
According to the AAIP, the Wordcoin Foundation must follow the procedures established in the Personal Data Protection Act, which include registering with the institution, delivering information about its data treatment policies, indicating the reason for requiring data, and informing about the time of conservation of this information.
Furthermore, Worldcoin also needs to detail the safety and confidentiality measures it applies to safeguard the personal information of Argentine citizens.
International Opposition
While Sam Altman, one of the co-founders of the Worldcoin project, has publicly stated that its goal is to register 2 billion people, the project has gained opposition in several countries of the world due to its intrusive personal data requirements, which include scanning the irises of the users to verify their identities.
Argentina is the latest of several countries currently probing the operations of the Worldcoin Foundation. French and Bavarian data regulators are also on top of the foundation regarding data treatment practices.
Worldcoin’s verification operations in Kenya have been suspended since August 2. On August 6, Kenyan police raided Worldcoin offices, confiscating the devices for storing users’ data.
What do you think about the probe procedure opened by the Argentine government against Worldcoin? Tell us in the comments section below.
Personal Finance Expert Says US Rating Downgrade Likely to Embolden BRICS Currency Supporters
The American rating agency Fitch’s recent downgrade of the United States’ credit rating from AAA to AA+ may embolden proponents of a BRICS currency, Riley Adams, a personal finance expert, has said. Adams however argues that there are certain “geopolitical issues” that must be overcome first before the BRICS currency becomes a reality.
Debt Ceiling Standoffs and the Impact on the U.S. Credit Rating
According to Riley Adams, a personal finance expert and the CEO of Young and the Invested, the credit rating agency Fitch’s recent downgrade of the United States to AA+ will likely “embolden anyone in the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] that supports the creation of a new currency.” Adams, also a certified public accountant (CPA), told Bitcoin.com News that Fitch’s report on the country also “relays legitimate concerns about how the budgeting process has devolved in the U.S.”
As reported by Bitcoin.com News, Fitch has tied its downgrade of the U.S. long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating from AAA to AA+ to the “repeated debt-limit political standoffs” and the last-minute resolutions which have in turn “erode[d] confidence in fiscal management.”
Meanwhile, the personal finance expert has posited that many of those opposed to the U.S. dollar’s reserve currency status will now attempt to use news of Fitch’s downgrade to further rally support for a BRICS currency.
“At the very least, it could trigger a short-term shift in sentiment that BRICS-currency supporters could use to get some traction on their ideas,” Adams, a former senior financial analyst for Google, explained.
BRICS Currency and Geopolitical Issues
In the past few years, critics of the U.S.-dominated financial system have highlighted how the country’s divided legislature has played a part in eroding confidence in America’s ability to meet its obligations on time. Also, before the latest debt ceiling agreement was struck, senior U.S. officials including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the U.S. Congress’ constant failure to raise the debt limit on time posed a serious threat to the dollar’s dominance.
However, as has been reported by Bitcoin.com News, the same U.S. officials appear less concerned about the possibility of the Chinese yuan or the much-vaunted BRICS currency toppling the greenback. While American leaders have flaunted the dollar’s unmatched backing by United States’ “deep, liquid and open financial markets” when dismissing the prospects of rival currencies, Adams sees “geopolitical issues” as one of the reasons why people ought to be less sanguine about the BRICS currency’s chances of success.
To illustrate, the personal finance expert pointed to a report in which the governor of the South African central bank reveals that a common currency would require a banking union, a fiscal union, and macroeconomic convergence for it to succeed. According to Adams, attempting to achieve this takes “many steps farther than simply trying to decouple from the dollar individually, and [is] much more unlikely to happen.”
Adams said the fact that proponents of a BRICS currency are seemingly trying to walk back earlier comments about the launch suggests the alternative reserve currency will not start circulating in August as some proponents had predicted.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Former SEC Official Defends Chair Gensler — Urges Crypto Community to Quit Personal Attacks, Focus on Facts
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s former head of internet enforcement has defended SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s approach to regulating the crypto industry. “It’s time to attack the facts and law on SEC positions and quit the personal attacks on the SEC Chair or the SEC staff,” he stressed. “It’s an anemic and flawed pivot that does not work in a courtroom and is a transparent and bush-league attempt to rally the mob.”
Stark Defends SEC Chair Gensler
Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official John Reed Stark has defended SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, calling on the crypto community to quit personal attacks on him. Stark is currently president of cybersecurity firm John Reed Stark Consulting. He founded and served as chief of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement for 11 years. He was also an SEC enforcement attorney for 15 years.
Gensler has said several times that all crypto tokens, besides bitcoin (BTC), are securities. His stance has raised concerns among many who perceive it as a preconceived judgment. However, when questioned in April by Congressman Patrick McHenry regarding whether ether (ETH) is a security, Gensler evaded a direct answer, insisting he will not make any prejudgments on the matter.
Responding to some people calling for Gensler to recuse himself from enforcement actions concerning crypto, Stark cited Hester Peirce, a pro-crypto SEC commissioner widely recognized in the cryptocurrency community as “crypto mom” as an example. He asserted:
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has a clearly pro-crypto ethos but never in a million years would I expect her to recuse herself because of her beliefs. And the same goes for SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
He explained that “Commissioner Peirce has dissented from, or criticized, just about every SEC effort to stop crypto-madness.” In addition, she “blames the SEC for crypto’s massive collapse and impending doom,” which Stark likened to “the CEO of Marlboro blaming the FDA for lung cancer caused by cigarettes.”
Stark stated: “With all due respect to Hester, her pro-crypto antics not only place at risk the investors she is sworn to protect, but they also don’t pass the straight face test.” He advised:
It’s time for Commissioner Peirce to abdicate all ‘crypto mom’ duties and Big Crypto fealty and join the litany of expert computer scientists who believe that when it comes to crypto/defi/NFTs and other web3 nonsense, there is no there there. But recusal? Absolutely not.
Many crypto proponents have criticized Gensler for taking an enforcement-centric approach to regulating the crypto industry. The SEC chairman is also heavily scrutinized for meeting with executives of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, including former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently facing multiple criminal charges.
Stark believes that both Gensler and Peirce have earned the right to be a member of the SEC and both deserve to press their points of view whenever they please. Furthermore, they have the freedom to decide whether or not to hold meetings with cryptocurrency executives as frequently as they want. “That is not regulatory capture but is good communication and education,” Stark said.
Moreover, Stark stressed: “I have taught a cyber/securities regulation course at both Georgetown and Duke Law Schools for 20 years — and what I say in the classroom is irrelevant to how I served as an SEC enforcement lawyer. The same should go for Chair Gensler.”
Stark also shared that during his 11-year tenure as the chief of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement, he actively engaged with various individuals from the securities industry. He noted that these interactions were essential for him to acquire knowledge, stay updated, and attentively listen to different perspectives. “This was not unethical, it was in my job description, and the same goes for Chair Gensler,” he emphasized, concluding:
It’s time to attack the facts and law on SEC positions and quit the personal attacks on the SEC Chair or the SEC staff. It’s an anemic and flawed pivot that does not work in a courtroom and is a transparent and bush-league attempt to rally the mob.
Do you agree with former chief of SEC internet enforcement John Reed Stark? Let us know in the comments section below.
House Financial Services Republicans Blast SEC’s Proposed Rule, State Gensler Is Pushing ‘His Own Personal Views Regarding Digital Assets’
Republicans of the House Financial Services Committee have criticized U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, stating he is using Rule 3b-16 amendments to impose his views on cryptocurrency assets. In a letter sent to the SEC, republicans push back against the new proposed definition of “exchange” and its implications.
Financial Services Committee Republicans Push Back Against SEC’s Proposed Ruleset
Republicans of the House Financial Services Committee are pushing back against the proposed amendments to Rule 3b-16 presented by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that expands the definition of “exchange.”
The group, comprising Chair Patrick McHenry and 28 other representatives, sent a letter on June 13 criticizing the implications of the approval of the rule, and its effects on the cryptocurrency market and its operators.
According to these representatives, passing this rule would imply that software protocols and even developers of decentralized financial products would have to register as exchanges with the SEC. This would be detrimental to adoption of the tech in the U.S.
Republican representatives stated:
The proposed rule will stifle innovation and harm digital asset market participants and the U.S. economy more broadly. We urge you to withdraw this proposal as it would effectively shut down development of the digital asset ecosystem and continue to stagnate U.S. technological innovation.
Furthermore, the group of Republicans disagreed with an assertion made in the proposed rule, which states that “it is unlikely that systems trading a large number of
different crypto assets are not trading any crypto assets that are securities.” The letter explains the SEC should not generalize or make “sweeping judgments” in its rulemaking.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Said to Be Pushing His Personal Views
The letter goes even further, accusing SEC Chair Gary Gensler of taking advantage of his position to propose rules that fit his perception of cryptocurrency. The letter states:
It is clear that Chair Gensler is using this proposal to push his own personal views regarding digital assets. It appears this proposed rule is an attempt to assert this personal view as official SEC policy without adequate analysis or justification.
Finally, the group accused the SEC of trying to front-run Congress, which is already working on different bills regarding cryptocurrency, with some of them being introduced by representatives part of the committee like Tom Emmer.
Rep. Warren Davidson, who also signed the letter, recently introduced a bill to oust Gary Gensler from his position as chairman of the SEC, titled the “SEC Stabilization Act.“
What do you think about the House Financial Services Committee Republicans’ stance on the SEC’s proposed rule? Tell us in the comments section below.
Kenyan Central Bank Governor Says Stance on Crypto Not Driven by Personal Views
Patrick Njoroge, the outgoing governor of the Kenyan central bank, recently said the bank’s policy on crypto assets is not driven by personal views but is founded on the “wealth of information that is in the central bank.” Njoroge said the Central Bank of Kenya will continue to point out the risks posed by unregulated crypto activity.
Outgoing Governor Says Kenyan Central Bank Has ‘Wealth of Information’
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) governor, Patrick Njoroge, recently said the apex bank’s stance towards crypto is not driven by personal views but is informed by the “wealth of information that is in the central bank.” He said while different individuals may have different views about crypto, it is the 57-year-old institution that ultimately determines the country’s crypto policy.
Outgoing CBK governor on Crypto Regulation
“Regulation is Important… If it is well Regulated, things are easier.”~ @njorogep
“we’ve made the point that they provide Significant Risk to our Economy…”
Interestingly, The Outgoing governor is aware of the ‘Disruption’ that… pic.twitter.com/EULy5jxkAg
— CRYPTOCURRENCY KENYA 🇰🇪 (@CryptoHubKE) May 31, 2023
Njoroge, who is set to end his tenure as the CBK’s ninth governor, made remarks after he was asked if he had plans to relay a crypto message to his successor. As has been reported by Bitcoin.com News, the CBK’s outgoing governor has warned Kenyans against trading or investing in cryptocurrencies like BTC.
In one of his several anti-crypto remarks, Njoroge asked Kenyan lawmakers to have him locked up should he ever agree to convert the country’s foreign exchange reserves to bitcoin.
These and other remarks by the CBK’s outgoing governor have, in turn, reportedly seen Njoroge become one of the most loathed BTC critics in Kenya. However, in response to assertions that he has a personal vendetta against crypto assets, the CBK governor claimed that neither he nor any executive at the central bank is in a position to set the bank’s policy towards crypto assets. He added:
There isn’t any sort of personal stake in terms of understanding, etc. The wealth of information is in the central bank. … In terms of passing on knowledge to my eventual successor, I think the answer is the central bank is there and it is really through the central bank, through a well-functioning central bank that that happens as well.
When asked to comment on reports suggesting that the Kenyan government wants to tax crypto transactions, Njoroge said the CBK will continue to highlight the risks posed by unregulated crypto activity.
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