What World Leaders Think About Crypto, and How They Want Decentralization to Bolster Centralised Power

Given the apparent sensitivity of cryptocurrency markets to regulatory and political developments, it stands to reason that the world's leaders - and what they think about crypto - will be vitally important in determining the direction the cryptocurrency market will travel in the future.

If the decentralization of community-led cryptocurrencies is as powerful as its exponents claim it is, what world leaders think about crypto might actually be inconsequential in the long term after all.

In March, Bannon championed cryptocurrencies as a means of enabling businesses and governments "To get away from the central banks that debase your currency and make slave wages," and of enabling individuals to reclaim power over their personal data from tech companies - which haven't exactly been supporters of Trump.

The British, French, German, Dutch and Italian governments have all outlined intentions to introduce cryptocurrency regulation, and a common theme in their suspicion of crypto trading concerns its security and money-laundering implications.

Interestingly, ex-chancellor Osborne was such a Bitcoin fanboy that he was photographed withdrawing the currency in August 2014, and it would seem that certain people still in key positions of power are also personal advocates of cryptocurrencies.

These indications of support for Bitcoin all emerged before last year's big speculative boom in cryptocurrencies, which ultimately resulted in finance ministers from Spain to the Netherlands warning of the risks of trading in crypto.

Moving away from the Western world, an even more restrictive stance towards cryptocurrencies and crypto trading is noticeable in China.

South Korea has indeed taken a hardline when it comes to "Negative use cases of cryptocurrencies," despite the widespread fervor for crypto trading among the general South Korean population.

In May 2016, it finally recognised cryptocurrencies as money, a move which enabled local banks to handle them and allowed crypto exchanges to operate within a regulated framework.

Amid the marked variation in opinions on crypto among world leaders, one basic principle emerges: national governments want to ensure that decentralized cryptocurrencies don't undermine their sovereignty over the nations they govern, while - at the same time - they want to harness whatever's convenient about crypto in order to increase economic efficiency and strengthen their respective positions.