Former US Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers has said that the cryptocurrency industry should embrace government regulation for its own benefit.
In a new interview on Bloomberg TV, Summers explained that since large financial sums are at stake in crypto, it is unrealistic to expect the industry to operate without government oversight.
Summers, who previously served as chief economist of the World Bank, secretary of the Treasury during former President Bill Clinton’s administration and director of the National Economic Council during former President Barack Obama’s term, compared the crypto space with the airline and automobile sectors, which would not be viable if not regulated.
The former US Treasury secretary explained:
“When you have large financial sums in secret, you have risks of money laundering, risks of supporting criminal activity, risk of innocent people being ripped off.”
Summers added:
“I think the crypto community needs to recognize that and needs to work cooperatively with governments and if they do that. I think that this innovation can be one of the important innovations of this period.”