Janet Yellen, Joe Biden’s choice for the Treasury secretary, revealed his policy for cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. She claims that cryptocurrencies are used primarily for illicit financing and their use needs to be restricted.
Janet Yellen reveals her plans for cryptocurrencies
At the Senate hearing to consider Janet Yellen’s appointment as Treasury secretary on Tuesday, Yellen was asked about cryptocurrencies. She is Joe Biden’s choice to lead the Treasury Department under his administration.
The issue of cryptography was asked by Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), who spoke about “the importance of treasury programs to combat the financing of terrorists and criminal organizations”. She said she raised the issue at previous hearings with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
“The bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act was passed earlier this month and included a provision led by Senator Warner that established an advisory group with the Treasury to combat the new ways that terrorists use emerging financial technology,” she began. “An area of growing concern, for example, is the potential for terrorists and criminals to use cryptocurrencies to finance their activities.”
Senator Hassan continued with her question: “So, Dr. Yellen, can you describe some of these emerging technological concerns and how should the Treasury tackle new forms of terrorism and crime financing?”
Yellen replied, “Senator, I think you are absolutely right about the technologies to bring about this change over time and we need to make sure that our methods of dealing with these issues with technology terrorist funding change along with the constantly changing technology. change.” The new Treasury Secretary elaborated:
Cryptocurrencies are a particular concern. I think that many are used, at least in the sense of transactions, mainly for illicit financing and I think that we really need to look at ways to restrict their use and ensure that money laundering (sic) does not occur through these channels.
Bitcoiners react to Yellen’s remarks
Following Yellen’s testimony in the Senate, the cryptographic community pointed out several flaws in his statements. Russell Okung, the professional football star who recently became the first NFL player to be paid in bitcoin, commented: “Yellen, nominated for the Secret Treasury, says bitcoin is a concern for terrorist financing, money laundering. .. as if the dollar was not. Don’t be distracted. Old things are happening, fight for your future. “
Dan Held, growth leader at crypto exchange Kraken, noted: “0.3% of all cryptocurrency activity in 2020 was illegal. 90% of US dollars contain cocaine. Which one is ‘used by the bad guys’ again? “
Morgan Creek Digital partner Anthony Pompliano described it similarly: “Janet Yellen said today that cryptocurrencies are of concern because of the financing of terrorism and money laundering. She forgot to mention that the US dollar is the currency of choice for criminals around the world. ” He added:
Big banks launder more money than all bitcoin’s market capitalization.
Some people referred to the “bitcoin guy”, who gained fame when he raised a sign that said “buy bitcoin” behind Yellen, as she testified at a previous Senate hearing as president of the Federal Reserve. Perhaps she “has lost her signal,” suggested some bitcoiners. Ivan on Tech tweeted on Wednesday: “Janet Yellen promises to go after bitcoin in a recent interview. It is still salty because of that incident with the bitcoin signal. “
Yellen is not the only one to recently suggest that most cryptographic activities are for illicit purposes. Last week, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, said that bitcoin “did some funny business and some interesting and totally reprehensible money laundering activities”. However, a famous economist quickly contradicted it, calling the ECB chief’s statement “absolutely outrageous when we all know that the vast majority of money laundering worldwide is conducted in fiat currencies, especially dollars and euros”.
What do you think of Janet Yellen’s cryptocurrency remarks? Let us know in the comments section below.
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