YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — US Senator Elizabeth Warren, notorious for her anti-crypto stance, has introduced legislation in her never-ending bid to push for a wider crackdown on cryptocurrencies. In what she trumpets as a major victory, more of her Democratic and Republican colleagues have joined her in signing the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022. Her initiative had already found favor among several lawmakers and organizations.
Elizabeth Warren is going after Bitcoin and the crypto industry
According to a recent announcement coming from Warren, five Senators have agreed to co-sponsor her bill. These include Raphael Warnock, Laphonza Butler, Chris Van Hollen, John Hickenlooper, and Ben Ray Luján. Moreover, all members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee also back the bill.
Warren, who has declared herself the poster girl of the anti-corruption movement, celebrated the development as an important step in preventing crypto misuse.
“I’m glad that five new senators are joining the fight to take action, including three members of the Banking Committee… Our bipartisan bill is the toughest proposal on the table cracking down on crypto’s illicit use and giving regulators more tools in their toolbox,”
she said in an announcement.
The US Senator also emphasized the necessity for new legislation to prevent the use of cryptos by terrorist groups, rogue nations, drug lords, ransomware gangs, and fraudsters.
She hopes her steps will prevent the laundering of billions in stolen funds, evasion of sanctions, financing of illegal weapons programs, and destructive cyberattacks.
Why are crypto crimes shouldn’t be top priority
Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren has forgotten that cryptocurrencies aren’t her number one problem. A recently released 2023 report by Europol, titled “Cryptocurrencies: Tracing the evolution of criminal finances,” highlights that crime-related cryptocurrency transactions constitute a small portion of the overall criminal economy.
Culprits use traditional fiat currency to facilitate their crimes more often than digital assets.
Moreover, according to data published by Chainalysis, the share of dubious activities from the total crypto transactions remains almost negligible. While the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies has brought cybercriminals to the field, it is still quite minuscule compared to traditional financial channels.
According to the report, illicit addresses received $20.6 billion in 2022. That number is up slightly from the $18.1 billion in 2021.
Neeraj Agrawal, the Director of Communications at Coin Center pointed out, slammed the bill.
“The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act is a direct attack on technological progress and also a direct attack on our personal privacy and autonomy,”
he said.
Senator Warren should be busy elsewhere
The move to prevent crypto money laundering and corruption is logical. However, some people have indicated that she may not be the best person to make that case.
Posting details about her finances, which have increased substantially, US citizens enquired about how she got so rich. Allegedly, there is a huge disparity between her income and her net worth. As one post on X (formerly Twitter) suggested, the maths does not add up.
Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the Republican frontrunners in the US Presidential race, also shared the post. He alleged Senator Warren is corrupt, hence her huge net worth. He didn’t spare his party colleagues in his criticism either.
“That math adds up to: corruption. GOP & Dems are both bad on this front. Call it “bipartisanship” ” he wrote.
With so much going on in her closet, Senator Warren is in no position to target cryptocurrencies. Maybe she should call for a crackdown on US President Joe Biden and his family for their alleged links with China.
Over the past years, she has started a crusade against corruption. She should stick to that instead of chasing too many hares only to catch none. Once she has made a breakthrough in tackling illicit activities in the traditional financial system, crypto will get a chance.
However, for now, Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies are not enemy number one. Being a complete Luddite about it doesn’t help.
