I hope you are all well and are having an excellent day welcome to CryptoGod-1’s blog on all things crypto. We are back again to discuss the latest old man shouting about crypto and demanding it be banned and made illegal. No its not Charlie Munger, this time we are talking about the former finance minister of Belgium, Johan Van Overtveldt.
Latest Old Man Yelling
Johan Van Overtveldt was a finance minister for Belgium between 2014 and 2018 before he later moved into a position at the European Parliament in 2019. In his new role he became part of its Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs which is a position he has held ever since. While the European Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs approved the new regulations for cryptocurrencies under the MICA framework in October 2022 (expected to begin in 2024), it seems Mr. Van Overtveldt is not in favour. He posted a tweet on Friday the 17th of March stating his position on cryptocurrencies, in a rather bizarre turn of events. Within the tweet Mr. Van Overtveldt placed the blame of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank solely on crypto and called for an outright ban on cryptocurrencies as a "lesson" for these speculative digital currencies. He went as far as referencing them as speculative poison which add no social or economic value, while also making the absurd reference that "if governments ban drugs, they should also ban crypto."
I hate to break it to you Johan, but cryptocurrencies did not cause the collapse of those banks. As a man in his position it is quite alarming as a European from a nation within the European Union that someone in his position is so uneducated and uninformed regarding how these banks collapsed. Maybe he is just spreading FUD and hoping the uninformed will follow his opinion, but it is unsettling to say the least!
And the version with the translation from Dutch into English via Google Translator.
Anyway, back in Reality...
According to the latest data, the market capitalization of Bitcoin has added roughly $194 billion in 2023. Putting that into perspective, that means Bitcoin has seen a year-to-date growth of around 66%, meaning it has vastly outperformed the top Wall Street Bank stocks. With fears of a global banking crisis rising, taking a look at the performance of Bitcoin compared to United States stocks for example, one can see the clear separation between Bitcoin (~66% growth), the NASDAQ (~15% decline) and the S&P 500 (~2.5% growth).
To add to the fears of a banking crisis has been the decline of six major banks in the United States. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have seen a loss of around $100 billion in market valuation since the year’s start, leading many to believe that a wider spread crisis might be on the cards following the more regional based collapses of late.
With similarities to the banking collapses in Cyprus and Greece back in 2013 and 2015 respectively, Bitcoin is performing exactly how one would expect. Back when both these nations were facing potential collapse, Cyprus closed all its banks in 2013 to avoid a bank run, and Greece imposed capital controls on citizens to also avoid a bank run. The result? Bitcoin grew about 150% or so!
Whether or not we are in for a similar level of growth this time around remains to be seen, but the signs have been positive so far for the crypto industry. As for the banking industry and old men like Johan Van Overtveldt, well, personally I think he should focus more on worrying about his own area of expertise and not allow himself to be afraid of new and modern technology. A ban on cryptocurrencies? Similar to a ban on drugs? Johan mate, there are still drugs everywhere, the exact same as cryptocurrencies would be everywhere regardless of whatever "ban" you try impose. Maybe educate yourself on how these things work instead of throwing nonsense accusations and claims around with nothing to back them up bar your prehistoric lack of knowledge!
Have a great day.
CryptoGod-1.
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