Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is responding to a viral tweetstorm from Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer, who recently offered a bleak outlook on Bitcoin and the entire crypto space.
Palmer, who created Dogecoin (DOGE) as a joke cryptocurrency with Billy Markus in 2013, asserted that crypto assets are designed to primarily “amplify the wealth of its proponents.”
“Despite claims of ‘decentralization,’ the cryptocurrency industry is controlled by a powerful cartel of wealthy figures who, with time, have evolved to incorporate many of the same institutions tied to the existing centralized financial system they supposedly set out to replace.”
In response, Armstrong says that the technology behind cryptocurrency broadens access to opportunities and facilitates wealth mobility.
“Crypto is not going to solve wealth inequality. It’s not trying to create the same outcome for everyone. But it does create wealth mobility and more equality of opportunity for everyone. It levels the playing field, at least to some degree.”
The Coinbase CEO also says crypto suits libertarian-minded people who prefer a free-market economic system.
“If you believe government solutions are often inefficient, overpromise/underdeliver, and come with unintended consequences, and that personal responsibility mixed with free markets will create better outcomes for everyone, then crypto is a much needed breath of fresh air.”
Armstrong adds that Bitcoin has generated riches for many people because it is not under the control of any government or regulatory authority. Government solutions, such as investor laws, are counterproductive and make it hard to obtain wealth through investments, according to Armstrong.
“Accredited investor laws are a good example. They were created with the best of intentions, to protect regular people from scams – a noble idea. But what has been the actual result? They’ve often made it illegal to get rich via investment, unless you’re already rich.
This is part of why Bitcoin has made so many people wealthy. It was not a security, so regular people could invest early on.”
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