Former Secretary of the Treasury Steven Munichin says he doesn’t want bitcoin in his portfolio.
Steven Mnuchin, the former Secretary of the Treasury in the US, recently expressed his views about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In an interview with CNBC, Mnuchin said that he is not planning on adding bitcoin to his investment portfolio. “If people want to buy Bitcoin as a substitute, no different than buying gold or some other asset, it’s fine. I don’t personally want to have it in my portfolio, but if people want to, that’s perfectly fine,” Mnuchin said in the interview.
Steven Mnuchin is not a fan of cryptocurrencies.
When Steven Mnuchin was head of the office, the US Treasury Department proposed strict cryptocurrency regulations in the USA. In December 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) requested comments on proposed requirements for certain transactions involving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The latest comments from Mnuchin came after Bitcoin lost nearly 50% of its value in the last eight weeks. Bitcoin was trading near $60,000 in May 2021 and dropped gradually to a low of approximately $28,000 on 22 June.
"If people want to buy #bitcoin as a substitute, no different than buying gold or some other asset, it's fine. I don't personally want to have it in my portfolio but if people want to that's perfectly fine," says @stevenmnuchin1 #btc pic.twitter.com/dmyRp3SXtK
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) July 14, 2021
Former Secretary of the Treasury highlights the importance of clear crypto regulations.
During the interview, Mnuchin highlighted the importance of a clear regulatory environment for cryptocurrency transactions in the US. “Under the OCC last year, we approved that the banks can use custody crypto assets. The reason we did that because we wanted to make sure that Bitcoin comes into the regulated world. So, my real focus is, if people want to buy Bitcoin, that’s fine, but it should be in the regulated world,” Steven Mnuchin added. Financial regulators across countries are actively working on cryptocurrency regulations.