On November 22nd, the Democrat U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote an opinion article for Wall Street Journal, demanding more cryptocurrency regulations in the future.
During the article, Warren spoke about the recent FTX collapse, and how the turmoil of events had negative effects on almost the entire U.S. market.
In a strong anti-crypto stance, Senator Warren did not hold back on her attacks against the sector. Up to the point of comparing cryptocurrencies to “financial schemes promoted by criminals and charlatans,”.
According to her, FTX’s collapse should be a “wake-up call”, calling for regulators. The U.S. Senator would also like the SEC to enforce harsher and stricter laws on exchanges.
“Regulators must enforce the law before more people get cheated, and Congress must plug the remaining holes in our regulatory structure,” Warren wrote. “Before the next crypto catastrophe takes down our economy.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren Asks For SBF’s Imprisonment
Later in the piece, Warren made clear that in the occasion that FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is found guilty of fraud – prosecutors should demand prison for the former cryptocurrency major player.
Additionally, Warren asked the SEC to “suit up”, in order to combat further attempts of market manipulation in the cryptocurrency market.
Despite the fact that the SEC is currently improving its safety system against cryptocurrency fraud, she claims that the regulatory organization has “fallen behind”.
“All crypto platforms should be required to implement the same kinds of cybersecurity and operations procedures that other financial companies must use,” Warren said.
Stance on Cryptocurrency Mining
Furthermore, Senator Warren also took a strong stance against cryptocurrency mining and the effects that the proof-of-work system can have on the environment.
During her piece, she spoke about how mining firms must be subjected to disclose emission and energy consumption reports to the public. In a later warning, the Senator spoke that, if the U.S. Energy Department is unwilling to verify the energy consumption of mining, Congress will “step in”.
Warren Question if The Cryptocurrency Market Can Survive “Legally”
To end her article, Warren questioned if cryptocurrencies could in fact survive government regulations in order to become a real economic asset.
According to her, Cryptocurrency should be regulated to the same fundamental standards as other financial activity.
“If the crypto industry can succeed without stealing from investors or providing money-laundering services to terrorists and drug dealers, that’s great,” Warren wrote. “But we won’t know that until the loopholes are closed and the laws are rigorously enforced.”
