Government Shutting Down Cryptocurrency? Elon Musk Doesn’t Think So

The cryptocurrency market took center stage again this week after numerous companies announced their intentions to leave China following the recent policy changes.

Elon Musk Said US Government Should Avoid Regulating Crypto

The Chinese government has been tough on cryptos in recent years. They have banned various cryptocurrency activities, including crypto exchanges, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency mining.

Last week, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced that all types of cryptocurrency transactions and services as illegal in China. The announcement has resulted in a mass exodus of cryptocurrency companies in China.

Cryptocurrency exchanges such as Huobi, BitMart and Biki have all announced that they are leaving the country. Crypto mining pools Sparkpool and others are also shutting down their services in China. The government went a step further to block leading crypto data sites Coinmarketcap and Coingecko.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has now told the United States government to avoid making a similar mistake as China. He stated that he doesn’t think it is possible to destroy crypto. However, he believes the government can slow down its advancements.

Musk said this while speaking at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California, yesterday. The Tesla CEO was responding to a question from New York Times columnist Kara Swisher who wanted to know if the United States government should be involved in regulating the cryptocurrency space. Musk recommends that the government do nothing as regulating it will slow down the massive innovation in the cryptocurrency space.

The Government Will Regulate The Crypto Market

Although Elon Musk doesn’t want the government to regulate the market, it is highly likely that the federal regulators will get involved. In recent months, Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, has repeatedly talked about the need to regulate the activities of the broader cryptocurrency space.

He has talked about the need to regulate the DeFi space, stablecoins and cryptocurrency exchanges. Gensler has asked the Congress to grant the SEC more power and resources to increase its oversight of the cryptocurrency space.

The cryptocurrency market isn’t shaken by China’s latest ban on cryptos. Bitcoin is up by less than 1% today and is trading above the $42k mark once again.