Crypto regulations in states like US’s California have been getting stringent. Just last week, for instance, it was reported that the Californian Assembly has passed a bill to regulate and add license crypto financial services based in the state.
Now, in the latest development, Rep. Brad Sherman opined on whether or not a crypto ban had enough fizzle to materialize. Per the Los Angeles Times, he “hates” it and views it as a “threat to the national security” of the United States. Even so, the Democrat acknowledged that the crypto industry is a powerful player when it came to campaign donations. He wiped off the possibility of a ban on the novel monetary variant. Elaborating on the same, Sherman said,
“I don’t think we’re going to get [to a ban] anytime soon. Money for lobbying and money for campaign contributions works, or people wouldn’t do it; and that’s why we haven’t banned crypto. We didn’t ban it at 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.”
Here it is worth recalling that the Fair Political Practices Commission had recently given a green light to candidates for state and local offices to accept donations of digital currencies like Bitcoin. However, it cannot be retained by the candidates. It would have to be converted to fiat. The same essentially rules out the odds of the donated amount abnormally amplifying or shrinking due to the market’s volatility.
Read More: Bitcoin donations for political campaigns receive green light in California
On crypto investor protection
Being on the same page alongside other crypto critics, Sherman worries about individual investors being defrauded. He perceives crypto to be a more “systemic threat.” Per the LA Times, Sherman is “particularly concerned” about services like Tornado Cash that aid people in shuffling their crypto transactions, making them almost impossible to trace.
Sherman is, however, undecided on what’s the best way to protect crypto investors. He doesn’t think people should be blatantly defrauded, but confessed that there is little he can do to stop people from recklessly spending their money. He added,
“It is hard to be running the subcommittee dedicated to investor protection in a country in which people want to wager on [meme coins]. Cryptocurrency is a meme you invest in, in the hopes that you can sell it to somebody else before it tanks. That’s the nice thing about a Ponzi scheme.”
Also Read: California Crypto Licensing Bill Passed By Assembly