US lawmaker says ‘too much money and power’ behind crypto to ban it – Regulation Bitcoin News

US Representative Brad Sherman says Congress hasn’t banned crypto because “there’s too much money and power behind it.” He elaborated: “Money for lobbying and money for campaign contributions works, otherwise people wouldn’t do it, and that’s why we haven’t banned crypto.”

US Lawmaker on Regulation and Why Congress Won’t Ban Crypto

Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) shared his views on cryptocurrency and its regulation in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, published on Sunday.

The US lawmaker from California, who chairs a House subcommittee on investor protection, wants to ban cryptocurrency, but does not believe Congress will take such action. “I don’t think we’ll get there [ban crypto] anytime soon,” he told the news agency.

“Lobbying money and campaign contribution money works, otherwise people wouldn’t do it, and that’s why we haven’t banned crypto,” Sherman explained, elaborating:

We didn’t ban it in the beginning because we didn’t realize it was important, and we didn’t ban it now because there’s too much money and power behind it.

Not only is the congressman concerned about individual investors being defrauded, but he also sees cryptocurrency as a threat to the national security of the United States. He believes crypto poses a systemic threat, enabling criminals and undermining the US dollar’s dominance.

The lawmaker is particularly concerned about crypto-mingling services such as Tornado Cash. In August, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) banned the mixing application Ethereum, claiming that the mixer has aided North Korean hackers such as the hacking syndicate known as the Lazarus Group.

Sherman admitted there is little he can do to stop investors from spending their money recklessly. “It is difficult to chair the subcommittee dedicated to investor protection in a country where people want to invest [meme coins]”, the US lawmaker stated, claiming:

Cryptocurrency is a meme that you invest in, hoping that you can sell it to someone else before it tanks. That’s the beauty of a Ponzi scheme.

Sherman went on to discuss crypto regulation without a ban. Comparing crypto to a stock or security, he believes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should oversee the crypto sector, citing the regulator’s size, expertise and aggressive enforcement actions.

However, three bills have been introduced in Congress this year to make the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the primary regulator of the crypto industry.

In July, Sherman urged the SEC to go after major crypto exchanges that traded XRP. The securities watchdog said in January it had taken 97 crypto-related enforcement actions. In May, the regulator said it nearly doubled the size of its crypto enforcement unit.

What do you think of the comments made by US Representative Brad Sherman? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of economics and cryptography.