The blockchain/crypto week in quotes

“The world that Satoshi Nakamoto, author of the Bitcoin whitepaper envisioned, and others are building, is an unstoppable force.” US Congressman Patrick McHenry

“BitMEX insiders revealed to me that this exchange is also used daily for money laundering on a massive scale by terrorists and other criminals from Russia, Iran, and elsewhere; the exchange does nothing to stop this, as it profits from these transactions.” Economist and professional crypto hater Nouriel Roubini 

“To put it in perspective, we’ve been talking about blockchain for seven years and very little has happened. We’re going to be talking about Libra three years from now. I wouldn’t spend too much time on it.” J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon

“Stablecoins and other various new products currently being developed, including projects with global and potentially systemic footprint such as Libra, raise serious regulatory and systemic concerns.” French finance minister Bruno Le Maire 

“I like Bitcoin. Is it where it needs to be? No, but the real thing I like when it comes to Bitcoin is blockchain, because I like the security. I want government to actually start using blockchain.” United States house minority leader Kevin McCarthy 

“Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity, like cybercrime, tax evasion, extortion, randomware, illicit drugs, human trafficking. This is indeed a national security issue.” United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

“I’m for the least amount of regulation. I don’t know what’s going to happen to cryptocurrencies. I think it’s a great idea. And I only have one rule: no fraud. I think that the government has a role. And [if] somebody has a case that there is fraud, I think it should be investigated . What I want to do is legalise the freedom of choice, absent blatant fraud.” Former Republican congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul

“If properly regulated, Libra could be a very positive thing. We’re not going to turn our back to it or try to stop it. We’re going to engage with it and try to work with others to ensure that it is effectively regulated.” Philip Hammond, Britain’s outgoing finance minister