Elizabeth Warren, a US senator, has expressed fears that cryptocurrencies risk undermining global sanctions on Russia. The senator, however, urged financial regulators not to take the warning lightly, to make possible arrangements to increase their strict measures on digital currencies and assets.
The Russian-Ukraine war stretched its limit early this week as the Russian troops continued their offensive attack in Kyiv. As a result, the world has slammed various economic and financial sanctions on the Russian federation. However, a Massachusetts senator, Elizabeth Warren, has expressed worries that Russia will evade sanctions through cryptocurrencies.
Senator Warren Fears Russia May Evade Sanctions Through Crypto
According to the statement issued by the senator on Monday via Twitter, she tweeted that cryptocurrencies are likely to pose as a loophole to undermine sanctions on Russia, enabling President Putin and his allies to evade harsh economic pains. She added that US financial regulators need to be serious about the threat and urged them to scrutinize digital currencies.
Regrettably, the senator’s tweet was met with mixed reactions in the crypto community as many criticized her ignorance. A Twitter user responded to the senator, tweeting that the inability of the government to control a decentralized, stateless, permissionless, and censorship-resistant currency has precipitated the senator’s worries.
Many crypto users called the senator a liar. They believed that because the government could not control cryptocurrencies, they urged crypto regulators to scrutinize digital assets and currencies. The senator’s tweet cited a New York Times Article on Russia’s evasion of US sanctions through crypto. However, Jerry Brito pointed out a few blunders he observed while reading the article.
Senator Warren’s Worries Criticized
The New York article talked about Russia developing new tools, but Brito argued that the report did not go ahead to state the exact nature of the latest tools or even give any form of reference. He added that it is inappropriate to believe that ransomware could account for the income lost to global sanctions on Russia. Brito agreed that Russia could use crypto to evade sanctions but disagreed on the possibility of using crypto at a propensity that would underrate the measures taken.
On the other hand, Ted Cruz, a Texas senator, maintained that Warren dislikes Bitcoin. He added that Warren’s hatred for cryptocurrency and bitcoin stems from its being beyond her control.
Ted Cruz likened Warren to China. Cruz said that Warren hated cryptocurrencies for the same reason China banned bitcoin, and that is the government’s inability to control digital assets. In his statement, Cruz opined that Warren and the government want to manage users’ assets, savings, speech, lives, and children; they want to control every decision about cryptocurrencies.
In her defense, Senator Warren cited the protection of investors and some environmental issues as reasons for bashing cryptocurrency. She urged the US SEC to fully utilize every authorization in its reach to regulate crypto activities.