ChatGPT CEO and founder Sam Altman warns that the government wants to control Bitcoin on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
ChatGPT founder and CEO Sam Altman warns that the government wants to control Bitcoin. For the founder of OpenAI’s parent company, Bitcoin will soon go through crucial and critical moments in its history. This time, the challenges will come from the United States government, increasingly eager to control Bitcoin.
During an episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast, Altman discussed the government’s “war on cryptocurrencies” and its most recent measures. Recent proposals by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prevent cryptocurrency exchanges from being custodians of cryptocurrencies.
Government Wants to Control Bitcoin and Rule Exchanges Out
Currently, the SEC’s actions point to industry scrutiny and an ongoing witch hunt. Even Binance have considered withdrawing from the United States after the recent investigation by regulators. These actions take on a much more personal and inquisitive tone as the crypto industry matures.
During his appearance on Rogan’s podcast, Altman also warned of increasing government investigation and oversight into the use of the money. The most recent strategy is the design and implementation of a CBDC in the medium term. CBDCs or digital currencies issued by the central bank threaten, according to Altman, the users’ privacy and security.
However, despite the rumors and growing interest, the current president of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, assures that this scenario is still distant.
Altman said the following:
“I’m disappointed with the US government’s recent actions regarding cryptocurrencies. I think their approach is something like ‘we can’t let it go, we have to control it,’ and that makes me quite sad.”
This week, Elon Musk also complained to the SEC. The SEC has sued him for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into his acquisition of Twitter. Through X, Musk made it known that he doesn’t like the SEC. He even believes that the commission should be reformed and its leaders prosecuted for abuse of power.
American politicians are also beginning to question the SEC’s policies. Last week, the chairman of the SEC appeared in Congress. There he was harshly questioned by critical congressmen.
Could the US Government Take Over Bitcoin?
That the US government is not a fan of cryptocurrencies should be obvious. That the US government wants to control Bitcoin is more difficult to prove. It will probably be nearly impossible for the US government to completely take over the Bitcoin network.
However, over the years, the US government has accumulated a good amount of Bitcoin. The government did this primarily through seizures. In total, the US government owns 205,515 Bitcoin. This has a total value of about $5.74 billion at the time of this writing. This represents just over 1% of all Bitcoins currently in circulation.
Altman and His History with BTC
So far, the founder and CEO of OpenAI has not wasted an opportunity to express his enthusiasm for Bitcoin and the support it gives. However, the community’s relationship with Altman has not been on the best of terms. Thanks to his relationship with the Worldcoin project, the Bitcoin community has reservations about the entrepreneur.
The Worldcoin project, in which Altman is a collaborator, seeks to create a database with the information of all users, using an unusual means: eye scanning. Some governments even went so far as to completely ban Worldcoin’s activities as they were considered inadequate for the security of users.
By Leonardo Pérez
