Tag: Jeffrey Wernick

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is working on a cryptocurrency project to reward political activism and “provide an alternative to the financial system”, according to an entrepreneur who claims to be working on the project. Last week, during an hour-long interview with CNBC, Bannon briefly mentioned a plan to launch his cryptocurrency tokens. Neither company would comment on Wernick’s alleged investment. Sitting next to Wernick at the press conference was former Cambridge Analytica director-turned-whistleblower Brittany Kaiser, now an IOVO advisor. “[A utility token’s] primary purpose is not just as a means of speculation, but it has intrinsic value on a network. “It is the Holy Grail to be a utility token rather than a security token because you avoid all the security laws.” The very concept of "utility tokens" is, nonetheless, disputed: while the category is recognised in Switzerland — alongside payment tokens and security tokens — the US Securities and Exchange Commission is more lukewarm on the idea. Ironically, the person who many credit for initiating Bannon to cryptocurrency owes most of his recent fame to an ICO. In September 2017, Pierce said he had been talking to Bannon about blockchain technology “many, many times”, although he added that the then-White House strategist was probably too busy to pay much attention to crypto just yet. He adds he felt it was “important that educators and stewards of technology provide the understanding”. “[Bannon] has surrounded himself with people who understand the value of [cryptocurrency], and he himself is very intelligent.