Congressman Brad Sherman: "It's too late for regulators to ban cryptocurrencies"

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California Congressman BradSherman called cryptocurrencies a threat to the US financial system. However, he believes that regulators will not ban digital assets anytime soon.

In a recent interview with Brad ShermanSherman, who chairs the House Investor Protection Subcommittee, shared his views on the cryptocurrency industry. The congressman called cryptocurrencies a threat to US national security, as they undermine the dominance of the US dollar and “free hands” for criminals. 

In particular, Sherman mentioned the Tornado mixerCash, which was placed on the sanctions list by the US Treasury Department in early August. The Ministry of Finance claims that this service was used by a group of North Korean hackers Lazarus for money laundering. Sherman is also concerned about the large number of cryptocurrency scammers. He lamented that regulators are powerless if gullible investors themselves want to spend their money recklessly.

“It’s hard to lead a subcommittee dealing withprotecting investors when people buy meme cryptocurrencies in hopes of selling them to someone else before their value collapses. Regulators didn't ban cryptocurrencies earlier because they didn't realize their importance. They will not ban them now, because there is too much money and power behind crypto assets,” laments the American legislator.

Sherman explained that cryptocurrencies are increasinglyused to finance political campaigns. For example, New Hampshire senatorial candidate Bruce Fenton recently supported Bitcoin. He believes that the US financial system is collapsing not because of Bitcoin, but because of the actions of the US Federal Reserve System (FRS). Therefore, Sherman is not sure that Congress will ever outlaw crypto assets.

Congressman Sherman has long been known for hisnegative attitude towards the industry. In 2019, he expressed doubts about the advisability of Facebook launching the Libra stablecoin, which was later renamed Diem. In February, the developers refused to launch it due to misunderstandings with regulators.