- Senator Warren has responded to a letter from the Blockchain Association.
- She claimed that the association’s lobbying efforts are attempts to undermine the efforts of the government.
- She has requested details of all government officials currently employed by the association.
In a stark letter to the Blockchain Association, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has reiterated her longstanding concerns about crypto’s use in terrorist financing and drug trafficking.
This comes in response to a November letter from the association, signed by a coalition of former U.S. military service members, intelligence officers, and national security professionals, urging regulators to take a more nuanced approach to crypto regulation.
Relying on a blog post by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the association disputed the extent to which terrorist groups such as Hamas use cryptocurrency to finance their activities.
According to the October 25 blog post, Eliptic stated that a Wall Street Journal article referenced by Warren had “misinterpreted” their data.
Elliptic clarified that there was “no evidence” supporting the reported $130 million in crypto fundraising by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as claimed in the Wall Street Journal and Warren’s letter.
Warren fires back
In her letter, the Senator decried the association’s lobbying efforts and recent collaboration with a “small army of former defense, national security, and law enforcement officials.”
She described it as deliberate attempts to “undermine bipartisan efforts in Congress and the Biden Administration to address the role of cryptocurrency in financing Hamas and other terrorist organizations.”
According to her, in the aftermath of the October 7 attack in Israel by Hamas terrorists, it has been revealed that crypto played a crucial role in their operational activities.
However, instead of working with regulators to address these issues, “the crypto industry appears to be focused on delaying and denying new rules that would restrict crypto’s use by terrorists and criminals,” Warren claimed.
Warren expressed her concerns about the crypto industry’s “revolving door” practices in her letter. This is where government officials leave public service for lucrative positions within the cryptocurrency sector.
Specifically, the senator mentioned Coinbase’s Global Advisory Council, which was formed in May 2023 and included three former members of Congress with significant roles in finance and national security.
According to her, the close ties between the crypto industry and government officials can hinder efforts to implement regulations, particularly those targeting crypto’s role in illegal activities like terror financing. The lawmaker further claimed,
This is wrong. Americans should be confident that government officials are working on their behalf rather than auditioning for high-paid lobbying jobs or abusing the connections that they have made in government service to influence members of Congress and regulators after they have made a trip through the revolving door.
She then requested that the Blockchain Association provide the details of all former military, civilian government officials, or members of Congress currently employed by it, the nature of their work, and information regarding remuneration.
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