Bitcoin, like the internet, can be used in ways which could compromise US prowess without suitable allowances from lawmakers.
Bitcoin (BTC) can undermine the US dollar if the United States does not take a lead role in accepting it, argues Anthony Pompliano.
Speaking to CNBC on April 8, the Morgan Creek Digital co-founder followed up on a warning from investor Peter Thiel that China could use Bitcoin to destabilize USD hegemony.
Thiel cautions over Bitcoin threat
"I do wonder at this point whether Bitcoin is to be thought of in part as a Chinese financial weapon against the US; it threatens fiat money but it especially threatens the US dollar," Thiel had said in an appearance at the Nixon Seminar.
Asked whether this was a potential problem, Pompliano was quick to point out that Thiel was not an opponent of Bitcoin, but rather that it, like the internet, could have both positive and negative consequences for Washington should policymakers make ill-thought-out decisions.
"I think what we've got to understand is that Bitcoin is an open, decentralized protocol," he explained to CNBC's "Squawk Box" segment.
"Everyone in the world has an opportunity to use this, just like the internet...