Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren; Celsius is urging Congress and the SEC to take a more assertive stance on crypto as a result of recent high-volume bankruptcies from lenders like Vauld, Voyager and BlockFi.
“Congress needs to act, but the SEC has a responsibility to use its authority to place the railings and crack down on crypto actors who are breaking the rules,” Warren told Yahoo Finance on Monday.
Massachusetts Senatorrecommended that “alarm bells are ringing in crypto” and that “harder rules” be applied to the industry to ensure client funds are protected.
He also added that “too many crypto firms are defrauding customers and those in the system are hurting retail investors as they withdraw their money.” This comment by Warren is just one of the recent criticisms and warnings about the industry.
In December of last year Warren, bitcoin wrote a stern letter to Jeff Kirt, CEO of mining company Greenidge, voicing his concerns about the operation’s “high energy use and carbon emissions.” Warren objected in the letter that it could harm the environment and increase the cost of electricity for ordinary consumers.
Speaking to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs later that month, Warren described the fast-growing decentralized finance (DeFi) sector as “one of the shadiest parts of crypto.”
He noted that DeFi “is a place where regulation is not effective and where, unsurprisingly, scammers are rampant, part-time investors and first-time traders mingle.”
In May of this year Warren, Fidelity InvestmentsHe criticized the plan to allow customers to allocate Bitcoin to their 401k retirement savings accounts.
Along with Democratic Senator Tina Smith from Minnesota, Warren wrote a letter to Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson, citing the volatility of crypto and asking how Fidelity “plans to deal with significant risks such as fraud, theft, and loss.”
Bitcoin volatility is only getting worse at the whims of a handful of influencers, MPs said. “Electing Tesla CEO Elon Musk, “his tweets alone led to Bitcoin value volatility as high as 8%.”
“We are concerned that Fidelity will take these risks with the retirement savings of millions of Americans,” Warren said in the letter.
A group of Republicans opposed to Warren introduced a bill later that month to prevent the U.S. Department of Labor from restricting the type of investment 401k account holders can choose.
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Disclaimer: What is written here is not investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments are high-risk investments. Every investment decision is under the individual’s own responsibility. Finally, Koinfinans and the author of this content cannot be held responsible for personal investment decisions.