The dawn of a new day in cryptocurrency is upon us. FTX Collapsed and Sam Bankman-Fried is being labeled the biggest scammer in American history. Billions of dollars are lost, so governments worldwide are responding. Another US Politician has chimed in today and his response to the crypto industry is cold. Montana Senator Jon Tester spoke with NBC news on digital currencies and his opinion is that cryptocurrency shouldn’t be regulated because it shouldn’t exist at all.
Regulate Cryptos or Ban It?
“Should the government be regulating it [crypto], or banning it” questioned Chuck Todd, host of Meet the Press on NBC News.
The question was clear and frank — said with an hard emphasis on banning it.
Directed towards US Senator Jon Tester, the politician from the Democratic party wasted no time responding.
“I haven’t been able to find anybody who’s been able to explain to me what’s there other than synthetics,” he first responded.
Because of the lack of a commodity backing cryptos, the Montana Senator says the coins mean nothing in reality. And though he doesn’t believe in cryptocurrency, he also does not believe in regulation. If the US Government does regulate it, Tester believes it will give digital currencies validation.
He finalizes the response with a pessimistic view but his own belief.
“I see no reason why this stuff should exist.”
The Montana official wants no part of cryptos and does not say ‘ban it’ but he also does not see a use for it.
Other Country’s Governments See Benefits of Cryptos
Of course, this has sent blog sites into overdrive, reporting the story. However, Tester’s opinion is not one that will stop the world of cryptocurrency. Governments worldwide have begun regulating cryptocurrencies or installing their own CBDC.
Colombia’s President says using cryptocurrency can help make sure people are paying their taxes. His political office has even gone as far as pitching ideas of limiting how much people can spend in fiat (physical cash) to make sure people use centralized currencies or cryptos.
In Africa, Nigeria’s government just limited the amount of fiat Nigerians can take from ATMs, without paying a hefty fee. This was done to push citizens to use eNaira, the official CBDC of the country.
Perhaps this US Senator does not see the value in cutting back on the materials wasted to produce fiat. Nor does he place importance on the end of excessively high bank fees and hurdles, when doing money transfers around the world.
Watch the full video of US Senator Jon Tester on NBC’s Meet The Press, above.