By CCN Markets: Donald Trump might be the most prominent Fed hater, but Ron Paul is the original. The crypto-loving former Senator from Texas has chosen this moment of wild volatility in financial markets to take aim at a new anti-bitcoin project nicknamed “FedNow” in development by the U.S. central bank.
Paul Fears FedNow May Crush Crypto
Ever the champion of individual liberty, it is no surprise that Ron Paul would be unnerved by Jerome Powell’s plans to extend his influence. As the current U.S. president attacks the Federal Reserve with a relentless barrage of tweets, Paul has a clear opportunity to leverage anti-Fed sentiment.
The “Campaign For Liberty” organization (of which Ron Paul is the chairman) released the following statement on the decision by Jerome Powell’s Fed to dive into the world of quick-pay:
“Consumers already have numerous options to make real-time payments, so the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin work on a central bank-run and controlled real payments system—what Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Berlau calls “FedNow”—is baffling.”
Can The Federal Reserve Compete With Bitcoin?
Hardcore libertarians like John McAfee or Ron Paul are smitten with the individual liberty that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin bring to the table. FedNow appears to be a defensive play by Jerome Powell and his team to play catch up with the technological advantages crypto offers. Naturally, the rest of Paul’s statement was less than glowing:
“A Federal Reserve-run, real payments system, will crowd out private alternatives, leaving consumers with one government-run option for real-time payments. This will be bad for consumers and real-time entrepreneurs but good for power-hungry Federal Reserve bureaucrats who will no doubt use FedNow to help “protect” the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency system from competition from cryptocurrencies.”
Powell Must Defend Dollar From Bitcoin
Achievement unlocked! I dreamt about a sitting U.S. president needing to respond to growing cryptocurrency usage years ago. “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”. We just made it to step 3 y’all. https://t.co/N3tzUKELaK
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) July 12, 2019
There is no doubt that that the bitcoin community believes we are getting close to the “then they fight you” stage of crypto adoption. FedNow is the perfect example of the mainstream trying to fight fire with fire by trying to safeguard existing fiat systems with technological modification.
Ron Paul to the Rescue
Jerome Powell admitted that bitcoin could be viewed as a speculative store of value earlier this year, so the timing of the project is unsurprising. Public comment is now open on FedNow, and Ron Paul is seizing the moment to fight for financial liberty and cryptocurrency. It doesn’t hurt that the Dow plummeted 800 points today either.
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