One of the leaders in U.S. crypto is optimistic that the space will grow under the administration of Joe Biden governing from the middle.
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, took to CNBC's Squawk Box on Monday to argue that the Biden administration will push crypto forward as part of a broad effort to update infrastructure:
"I think that they will ultimately be supportive because this is an infrastructure change as big as the initial commercial internet, and they're going to be focused on infrastructure changes that make America more competitive."
Overall, moderate politics benefit crypto, Allaire reasoned: "You've got moderates, both on the left and the right, who I think see this constructively."
Allaire's comments follow a Twitter thread on Sunday that included similar comments about partisan division:
2/14 The stakes are very high for society and the economy; the far-left wants to paint crypto as an anti-big tech and consumer protection issue, the far-right wants to paint crypto as a national security threat; the libertarians and moderates see the human economic potential.
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) December 6, 2020
On Squawk Box today, Allaire referenced, in particular, concerns that the left wing in the United States had taken a hard line against new financial tools, especially stablecoins:
"You have on the very liberal end of the spectrum a view that somehow this is not good for individuals who have less access to the financial system, when in fact, the opposite is the case, that this technology — in particular stablecoins — hold promise of opening up and widening access to the financial system more deeply than the existing banking system."
These comments are likely in reference to a bill introduced last week that would outlaw all stablecoins that do not file the same registrations as traditional banks, including Circle's own USD Coin (USDC).
In response to a question as to whether recent moves against stablecoins were linked to proposals for the Federal Reserve to issue its own central bank digital currency, Allaire countered that private firms are just much further ahead.