“Congress must act” on crypto, says US Senator Elizabeth Warren

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren urges Congress and the SEC to take a more confident stance with crypto, in light of recent high-profile insolvencies from lenders like Celsius, Vauld, Voyager and BlockFi.

Warren told Yahoo Finance on Monday that “Congress must act, but the SEC has a responsibility to use its authority to put railings in place and crack down on crypto actors who break the rules.”

The Massachusetts senator said she has “rang the alarm on crypto” and recommends enforcing “stronger rules” on the sector to ensure customers’ funds are protected.

She added that “too many crypto firms have been able to deceive customers and let ordinary investors hold their own while insiders take off their money.”

Monday’s comments are just the latest in what has become a very critical attitude to everything that has to do with crypto.

Warren on Retirement Plans for Mining, DeFi and Bitcoin

In December last year, Warren wrote a stern letter to Jeff Kirt, CEO of Bitcoin mining company Greenidge, raising approxoncerns over the operation’s “high energy consumption and carbon emissions”, which, she claimed, could harm the environment and increase the cost of electricity for ordinary consumers.

Later that month, speaking in a Senate committee on banking, housing and city affairs, Warren called the fast-growing decentralized finance (DeFi) sector «one of the the most shady parts of crypto. ”

She elaborated that DeFi “is where the regulation is actually absent and – no surprise – it is where the scammers and cheaters and scammers mingle among part-time investors and first-time crypto traders.”

In May this year, Warren criticised Fidelity Investment’s plan to allow customers to assign Bitcoin to their 401 (k) pension savings accounts.

Along with Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, Warren wrote a letter to Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson who points to the volatility of crypto and asks her how Fidelity plans to deal with “significant risks such as fraud, theft and loss”.

Lawmakers also said, “Bitcoin’s volatility is amplified by its susceptibility to the whims of just a handful of influencers.” The pulled out the Tesla boss Elon Musk, whose “tweets alone have led to fluctuations in the Bitcoin value as high as 8%.”

“We are concerned that Fidelity will take these risks with millions of Americans’ retirement savings,” the letter said.

Opponent Warren, a group of Republicans prepared a bill later that month to prevent the U.S. Department of Labor from restricting the type of investment 401 (k) account holders can choose.

Do you want to become a crypto expert? Get the best from Decrypt right to your inbox.

Get the biggest crypto news + weekly summaries and more!