- White House advisor, Tim Wu holds between $1 million and $5 million in Bitcoin.
- He also has between $100,001 and $250,000 in Filecoin.
The previous US administration was accused of being hostile to cryptos. For this reason, most of the Bitcoin enthusiasts became bullish after the swearing-in of the Biden administration with an expectation that it would have a soft spot for digital currencies.
As the government is observing crypto through several reviews and debates, it has been revealed that Tim Wu, a top technology adviser and antitrust expert at the White House has a significant portion of his net worth in Bitcoin and Filecoin. He was appointed by US President Joe Biden as the special assistant for technology and competition policy at the National Economic Council. Before then, he was teaching at the Columbia Law School.
According to a personal financial disclosure filed by Wu, he holds between $1 million and $5 million in Bitcoin. This establishes his strong interest in cryptocurrencies. Not just that, he also has between $100,001 and $250,000 in FIL. FIL is the native asset of the digital storage and data retrieval platform, Filecoin.
Sources have disclosed that Wu has recused himself from any discussion relating to Bitcoin or cryptocurrency due to his financial interest in the crypto space. Wu is known for his stance against the monopolistic power possessed by the Big Tech companies. He is also known for coining the word “net neutrality” in 2002.
Wu’s interest in Bitcoin
Wu has always recognized the weakness of Bitcoin. However, he saw the asset as exceptional. According to an article he published in 2017, he said Bitcoin is a bubble, but its bubble has significance just as all bubbles come in different shapes.
Some are shimmering nothings, reflecting little more than an underlying pyramid scheme. But others are like ocean swells that could become enormous waves. Consider the tech stocks of the late 1990s — a bubble, to be sure, but in retrospect, was Amazon overvalued?
Despite the interest of the advisor in crypto, the cybersecurity officials of the Biden administration have raised concerns about the asset being exploited by bad actors. Carol House, the director of cybersecurity and secure digital innovation at the National Security Council pointed to the role of crypto in ransomware attacks and terrorist financing.
A lot of the developers in the space created the systems without building in the kinds of protections that are needed for longstanding obligations.
Regardless, many institutional investors have the same view as Wu on Bitcoin.
