Chilean Opposition Leader Owns Ethereum – But Is a Crypto-skeptic

A Chilean opposition party leader has called for crypto to be officially recognized as an asset class and claimed he has ethereum (ETH) holdings – although he also calls himself a crypto “skeptic.”

Per a report from DF Mas, Giorgio Jackson, the founder of the Democratic Revolution political party, which has 10 seats in the lower chamber, plus a senate seat, explained that he owned a “small amount” of ETH, although he stopped short of disclosing the size of his investment.

Jackson, a former engineer, was speaking at an event operated by the Buda crypto exchange. And when discussing the idea of Chile following El Salvador’s lead in moving to grant bitcoin (BTC) legal tender status, said:

“I am not closing myself off from the possibility [of following the Salvadorian example], but I am skeptical. And there are not enough reasons right now to argue that it is ideal or optimal to have a cryptocurrency as legal tender in any country.”

However, he argued for legal change, stating that although a number of “pending” regulatory issues still blighted the sector, crypto tokens “should be recognized as assets.”

He went on to outline these issues, mentioning the need for fraud-fighting measures, a system of consumer protection, banks’ rights to “veto” transactions and the ability to “carry out traceability” tests in cases of possible tax avoidance or criminal activity.

Jackson added that volatility-related issues also dogged crypto adoption plans, and also opined that slow validation times, unstable trading costs and energy consumption problems could also provide barriers to mainstream adoption. Addressing such problems would not be straightforward, the political leader said, as in some cases, “the cure can be worse than the disease.”

Regardless, Jackson said, “innovation and technology” require action, with fintech and crypto-related legislation needed “as soon as possible.”

He was quoted as stating that the world of fintech was “not going to be exempt” from the need for government support and that “we must look into how we can protect people.”

Jackson concluded:

“We have to pass a fintech law, and find a way for it to be put into place. The idea of ​​[allowing the fintech sector] to challenge financial institutions seems to me to be fundamental.”

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