CZ acknowledged that there is a gambling component to prediction markets, but said that applies to other financial markets as well.
“With any financial instrument, there are always some speculators,” he said. “Speculators actually provide the liquidity, so it’s good that that speculation exists.”
Policy futures
The potential flagship US crypto policy legislation, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (known as the Clarity Act), may become law by the end of the year if lawmakers can resolve some outstanding issues, including an ethics provision for government officials, primarily the president.
But he said the Clarity Act and other individual bills are “small, tactical things, which are really important, but won’t affect the long-term growth of cryptocurrencies.”
Even if the Clarity Act does not become law this year, CZ said he hoped the United States would continue to take a leadership role in regulating cryptocurrencies, adding that other countries would continue to introduce their own regulations governing digital assets.
The US will likely continue to compete with other countries to introduce rules, and already has the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act focused on stablecoins, he said.
“Of course, I hope it passes, and then all the other countries will probably copy it to some extent,” he said. “If it is delayed… other countries could move forward first.”
