Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO, Mike Novogratz, has expressed his surprise that U.S. authorities are focused on regulating crypto but have failed to address the issue of AI regulation. Speaking at the Fourth Quarter (Q4) 2022 Shareholder Update Conference Call, Novogratz argued that the U.S. government had its priorities “completely upside-down.” He added that while he wasn’t opposed to weeding out bad actors from the crypto space, he felt that regulators were approaching the issue of crypto regulation in a way that was “throwing the baby out with the bath water.”
Novogratz contended that crypto had emerged as a vital tool for preserving value in a world where fiat currencies were being continuously debased. He also argued that crypto represented a real technological breakthrough, providing a means of monetizing IP in the NFT space and offering a way to save money in a world where it felt like fiat currencies were at risk of devaluation.
The Galaxy Digital CEO went on to criticize the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approach to regulating crypto. Novogratz highlighted SEC chair Gary Gensler’s vacillations on the issue of what constituted a security and what did not. He also blamed the SEC’s inability to clearly define the attributes that make a crypto asset a security for the impasse that currently exists between industry players and regulators.
In order to move the industry forward, Novogratz suggested that there needed to be a concerted effort to create a set of rules that would allow legitimate players to grow the industry in the U.S. He argued that it was necessary to have smart people thinking about how to develop this new industry while maintaining appropriate regulatory oversight.
Novogratz emphasized that crypto represented a real technology that people cared about and that the U.S. government needed to give the industry its due attention. He stated that while crypto regulation was important, AI regulation was equally vital and urged regulators to focus on both issues equally.
