The lawmakers and regulators in the United States have been concerned about stricter sector regulation to protect investors’ interests and prevent associated criminal activities.
There has also been a rising anti-crypto stance amidst the authorities. Recently joining the anti-crypto club is Senate banking chairman Sherrod Brown, who suggested a full-crypto ban.
Sherrod Brown is the chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Brown has been recognized as an anti-crypto campaigner, like his Senate colleague Elizabeth Warren. Sources reveal that the duo has been actively working to eliminate the entire crypto sector residing in the country.
In his latest media interaction, Brown opined his stance on the crypto sector. He also urged the Treasury and all federal agencies to unite to take action against the crypto sector. He also suggested a complete crypto ban to keep a check. He said:
“Maybe banning it, although banning it is very difficult because it will go offshore and who knows how that will work.”
However, criticizing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies wouldn’t serve the ultimate purpose, nor would banning the asset class. Experts cite the absence of an appropriate regulatory framework to be responsible for the FTX fiasco, which eventually exploited the interest of traders and investors.
The US lawmakers need to articulate a productive framework aimed at ensuring the protection of investors rather than planning a ban on the entire asset class, which many people find lucrative and worth the risk.
Brown also stated that the cryptocurrency market is a “complicated, unregulated pot of money,” and the issues pertaining to it are not just limited to FTX but larger than that.
Senator Warren and Brown share their views when it comes to crypto. As both of them, in individual instances, have opined crypto is a threat to national security. Brown also believes the entire crypto sector is a sham designed to scan unwitting participants.
Brown also said he had tried his best to educate people about the crypto sector’s underlying risks. He said that he has spent eight years as the Senate Banking Chair trying to “educate” his peers and “trying to educate the public about crypto and the dangers that it presents to our security as a nation and the consumers that get hoodwinked by them.”
Last week, Warren criticized the crypto sector and cited the problematic elements. She said:
“Rogue nations, oligarchs, and drug lords are using crypto to launder billions, evade sanctions and finance terrorism,” she proclaimed.
She has also proposed a bill to the lawmakers who seek to provide recommendations on digital assets. A broad range of rules in the “Digital Asset Anti Money Laundering Act of 2022” eliminates fundamental financial privacy. Warren wants to label wallets, nodes, and validators as “money service businesses,” demonstrating a shocking lack of understanding of the technology.
Warren has been a long-time critic of crypto as last year, in a media interaction, she referred to the bitcoin industry as “a new shadow bank.” Her statement came at a time when the regulators reportedly were struggling with a financial market dominated by loans.
In recent times, she has repeatedly raised concerns over the increasing mining. For example, in October, Todayq News reported that Senator Warren and a group of six other US senators have asked for data on the energy use and potential environmental effects of Texas-based bitcoin mining facilities.
They expressed their concerns about the possibility that mining operations could put additional strain on the state’s power grid, referring to Texas as a “deregulated safe harbour” for cryptocurrency mining companies.