The former Deputy Director of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Raj Date is investing in bitcoin. He appeared on CNBC on Wednesday to discuss the digital currency, which he remains vocally bullish on.
“The things I like about innovation in consumer finance, like bitcoin, like digital currency, is the exact reason I went to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” he said. “How is it that you can take new ideas and make the system work better for people?”
Asked whether or not he thinks bitcoin needs regulation, Date said “Absolutely”.
“The potential for digital currency to really make an impact in peoples’ lives is if payments can be cheaper, easier, faster and more secure,” he said. “But having a steady and clear set of regulatory apparatus around it will make things better, not worse.”
Mr. Date says that it’s possible that bitcoin may not be the end-all of digital currencies, but says that anything that solves consumer problems and merchants is a good thing.
With the recent collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of millions of investors dollars (in bitcoin), Date sees a maturing financial industry surrounding bitcoin.
“The new firms in this marketplace are considerably more serious-minded, considerably better financed, and take [security] seriously.”
Date serves as managing director of Fenway Summer, an advisory/investment firm operating out of Washington, D.C. He’s also serving on the board of the Circle Internet Financial, a start-up based here in Massachusetts that aims to make secure, easy-to-use products for digital currency users.
[textmarker color=”C24000″]Source[/textmarker] CNBC