Elizabeth Warren
Add An Item To Elizabeth Warren's Record
Elizabeth Warren's Record on Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, and Blockchain
- 8/16/2021, 7:42:27 PM
Negative. +1
Cryptocurrency is the wild west of our financial system and desperately needs rules of the road to protect investors and our economy. I’m glad SEC Chair @GaryGensler agrees, and I’m going to keep pushing our regulators to act.
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Reference LinkSubmitted By: Anonymous - 8/16/2021, 7:41:12 PM
Negative. +1
From: Transcripts: Building A Stronger Financial System: Opportunities of a Central Bank Digital Currency U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Policy Wednesday, June 9, 2021 Senator Warren: We've talked a lot today about the dangers that cryptocurrencies pose to our economy. We've talked about the ripoffs, the instability, the extent to which they are used to help criminals with cyberattacks like the attack on the Colonial Pipeline and JBS. But there's another piece too: the adverse environmental impacts of the computing activity used to mint many of these digital currencies in the first place. Bitcoin consumes more energy than entire countries and it is projected to consume as much energy as all the data centers in the whole world this year. One bitcoin transaction - a single purchase, sale, or transfer - uses the same amount of electricity as the typical U.S. household uses in more than a month. Senator Warren: So it's built right into it. That there are computers all over the world right now spitting out random numbers around the clock, in a competition to try to solve a useless puzzle and win the bitcoin reward. And, the amount of computational power and energy for this is a disaster for our planet. Senator Warren: Good. I'm glad to hear this. Look, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are terrible for the environment. And that would be true regardless of whether we were getting anything productive out of that energy usage or not. The fact that we're not makes it even more scandalous. One of the easiest and least disruptive things we can do to address the climate crisis is crack down on environmentally wasteful cryptocurrencies. And now is the time to do it. So, I wanna thank all of our witnesses for being here today. I wanna thank you for providing testimony.
Reference LinkSubmitted By: Anonymous - 8/16/2021, 7:14:17 PM
Negative. +1
During a hearing titled 'Cryptocurrencies: What are they good for?' Sen. Warren asked the following questions and made the following statements: Statement: Speaking on miners and coders. "So they have the capacity here to manipulate the system. You know, it sounds to me like a lousy trade-off. Instead of leaving our system, our financial system, at the whims of giant banks, crypto puts the system at the whims of some shadowy faceless group of supercoders and miners which doesn't sound better to me." Question: "But even if crypto isn't an improvement over our current system when it comes to being more democratic or less hackable, there's one other possible benefit and it is a big one crypto proponents claim, that crypto is safe from the kind of financial crisis that blew up the economy back in 2008. After all the story goes the motivation behind bitcoin's creation was to avoid exposure to bank collapses in financial contagion in the traditional financial system. Professor Walsh for that to be true crypto would have to be insulated from the risks that make our financial system vulnerable to a crisis and vice versa. Is that the case?" Statement: "So look, there's no doubt that we need a stronger, safer, and more inclusive financial system. The biggest banks have too much power, present too many risks to financial stability, and have failed to serve Americans needs. The giant banks have created huge problems, but I'm not convinced that crypto is the solution. In fact crypto could be even more dangerous for consumers, more dangerous for the environment, and more dangerous for the stability of our financial system. That is why yesterday I sent a letter to Secretary Yellen in her capacity as head of the financial stability oversight council to urge her to lead our regulators in developing a comprehensive and coordinated approach to regulating cryptocurrencies. Look, all the warning signs are flashing the hype the volatility the wild claims that turn out to be false. As the crypto market grows, so do the risk to our financial stability and our economy. Regulators need to do their job and step in before it's too late, thank you."
Reference LinkSubmitted By: Anonymous - 8/16/2021, 6:46:02 PM
Negative. +1
Sen. Warren's opening remarks during a Economic Policy Subcommittee hearing: "Second, crypto is a lousy investment. Unlike, say, the stock market, the crypto world currently has no consumer protection – none. As a result, honest investors and people trying to put aside some savings are at the mercy of fraudsters." "Third, crypto has become a haven for illegal activity. Online theft, drug trafficking, ransom attacks, and other illegal activity have all been made easier with crypto." "Finally, there are the environmental costs of crypto. Many cryptocurrencies are created through “proof-of-work” mining that involves using computers to solve useless mathematical puzzles in exchange for newly minted cryptocurrency tokens. Such mining has devastating consequences for the climate." "Meanwhile, cryptocurrency has created opportunities to scam investors, assist criminals, and worsen the climate crisis. The threats posted by crypto show that Congress and federal regulators can’t continue to hide out, hoping that crypto will go away. It won’t. It’s time to confront these issues head on."
Reference LinkSubmitted By: Anonymous - 8/16/2021, 6:30:59 PM
Negative. +1
Sen. Elizabeth Warren urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday to identify and remedy risks posed by cryptocurrencies and to craft a “comprehensive and coordinated” framework through which federal agencies can continually regulate virtual coins. “FSOC must act quickly to use its statutory authority to address cryptocurrencies’ risks and regulate the market to ensure the safety and stability of consumers and our financial system,” the Massachusetts Democrat wrote in a letter to Yellen. “As the demand for cryptocurrencies continues to grow and these assets become more embedded in our financial system, consumers, the environment, and our financial system are under growing threats,” she added.
Reference LinkSubmitted By: Anonymous - 8/16/2021, 6:23:02 PM
Negative. +1
Sen. Elizabeth Warren told CNBC on Wednesday she’s skeptical that bitcoin will prove to be a reliable hedge against inflation over the long run, a key reason some investors choose to own it. “People can make their own investment decisions, but to do that somehow assumes two things. One is that what’s happening with bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency is somehow going to be divorced from what’s happening elsewhere in the economy,” the Massachusetts Democrat, a frequent Wall Street and crypto critic, said on “Squawk Box.” “The idea that they’re somehow a protection or a hedge, I don’t think that’s going to be borne out over time,” she added. Warren called for cryptocurrencies to face tighter regulation, suggesting it will help root out “snake oil salesmen” and may shore up the confidence of investors in the nascent asset class.
Reference LinkSubmitted By: Anonymous