Fear of blockchain will have ‘disastrous consequences’ — Ava Labs CEO testimony

Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer will be calling on United States officials to “nurture” and “support” responsible blockchain innovation, warning that they face “disastrous consequences” if they don’t.

Gün Sirer’s comments in defense of what he describes as a “revolutionary technology” is part of a testimony that he is scheduled to give to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on June 13 — the audience will include Chair Patrick McHenry, Ranking Member Maxine Waters and other members in the House Committee.

Gün Sirer’s testimony aims to explain how blockchain can “transform society” by making digital services “more efficient, reliable and accessible to all.”

My written testimony for the House Financial Services Committee hearing on blockchains and the future of digital assets is now public.

You can read it to preview what I’ll say and live stream the hearing at 2 p.m. ET tomorrow here:https://t.co/bv2pWTwCVT https://t.co/dtRlBmuN4F

— Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) June 12, 2023

It comes amid a slew of regulatory enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s indicated plans to build an “anti-crypto army.”

But Gün Sirer fears that such action may backfire with “disastrous consequences” on the country’s economy:

“Failure to see the power of blockchain technology – whether due to a lack of understanding or misplaced fears of the technology – will have disastrous consequences.”

He added that a “failure” to provide a “sensible regulatory framework” would not only blowback economic growth but also “make it easier for bad actors to conduct illicit activities.”

I am honored to discuss the need for free, safe, and responsible blockchain innovation in the U.S. before the House Financial Services Committee next Tuesday. I look forward to advocating for the technical and scientific merits of these systems. https://t.co/FUuuXmdrg1

— Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) June 9, 2023

The Ava Labs CEO explained that the U.S. “won the first wave of the internet revolution” in the early 2000s because it enabled “responsible freedom to innovate.”

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He’s now calling on U.S. officials to “follow the same path” in what he describes as an increasingly “digitally-native world.”

“As we move towards a more digitally-native world, aided by AI, virtual reality, and a work-from-home society, we will have to rely increasingly on digitally-native transfer and programmability of value.”

“Blockchains are the clear technological answer to these needs,” Gün Sirer said, adding that blockchains will one day capture a large share of the world’s economic value:

“The addressable market for digitizing the world’s assets and transferring value safely across the internet is greater than the sum of all the value of all existing assets.”

Gün Sirer isn’t the only industry figure to share this view either.

In an interview with CNBC Crypto World on June 8, Chainlink Labs CEO Sergey Nazarov explained that it is “absolutely inevitable” that much of the world’s economic value will soon find its way on-chain.

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