The industry has faced a regulatory crackdown in America
Sam Altman, chief executive officer (CEO) of OpenAI and inventor of the AI software ChatGPT. © Global Look Press / Sven Hoppe
US authorities are waging war against cryptocurrencies and want to control Bitcoin, Sam Altman, the chief executive of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, warned during an appearance on the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast.
“There are many things that I’m disappointed that the US government has done recently, but the war on crypto – which I think is a, like, we can’t give this up, like, we’re going to control this and all that – that’s the thing that makes me quite sad about the country,” Altman said.
Earlier this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance, the world’s largest crypto trading platform, accusing it of mishandling customer funds, artificially inflating trading volume, and taking steps to evade US regulations. Moreover, the market watchdog charged Coinbase, the biggest crypto trading platform in the country, with operating as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
These steps have come as a part of a widening crackdown on the digital asset sector prompted by the collapse of the Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX last year. FTX was exposed as a Ponzi scheme used to siphon investor funds into the pockets of executives – as well as politicians.
READ MORE: US seeks to freeze assets of world’s biggest crypto exchange
“I’m very worried about how far the surveillance state could go here,” Altman said, referring to government control over money and adding he’s “super against” central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
US policymakers have been mulling the idea of creating a virtual dollar CBDC; however, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said earlier this year that the project could still take years to implement.
Altman said he was excited about Bitcoin, stressing that having “a global currency that is outside of the control of any government is a super logical and important step on the tech tree.”
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