House Rep. Kevin McCarthy heaps praise on Bitcoin

In a recent interview with CNBC, Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House Minority Leader said: 

"I like bitcoin ... The real thing I like when it comes to bitcoin is I like blockchain because I like the security. I want the government to start using blockchain,"

Though Bitcoin and Libra are cryptocurrencies that use blockchain technology, the difference is that a sovereign currency does not back Bitcoin. On the other hand, Libra is a stablecoin backed by an assortment of government-backed currencies. McCarthy is concerned about their apparent lack of decentralization:

"When I'm on Facebook, I'm not the customer, I'm the product. Facebook is free because they sell your data to make money. Now they want to get into the business, and they're not Bitcoin, in this Libra. They're not decentralized."

McCarthy said that he was looking to determine whether Facebook has considered its 'potential anti-competitive behavior': 

"I want to see decentralization because Libra concerns me that they're going to control the market."

Fellow Republican Pat Toomey, on the other hand, is willing to have a more open mind about Libra. He told CNBC:

"I don't want to presume in advance that we've got to prevent the development of some new innovation..I am very curious about what the ultimate business motive is for Facebook here."