Another crypto-skeptical US senator is on the loose: Democrat Jon Tester dares to claim that he sees “no reason why” cryptocurrencies should exist.
Tester is the oldest senator from Montana, where he has held a seat since 2007. He is also part of the Senate Banking Committee, which is one of the main players involved in the current debate on the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the United States.
During an appearance on December 11 on the show Meet the Press from NBC, Tester plot that, since cryptocurrencies have no real value, the sector should not be regulated, since that would give it legitimacy.
“For me it hasn’t passed the smell test. I haven’t been able to find anyone who could explain to me what’s in there other than synthetics […] which doesn’t mean anything” said, adding that:
“The problem is that if we regulate it, and I pointed this out to some of the regulators here a week or two ago, if we regulate it, it can give people the chance to think it’s real.”
Following this line, Tester stated that he sees “no reason for it to exist”.
The crypto community was not shy about criticizing the senator’s comments against cryptocurrencies and his confessed lack of knowledge about them, with Twitter user “BS0064” saying that “It’s always nice to see people who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about express really strong opinions on the matter.”
Furthermore, user “blocknonprofit” argued: “it’s real… imagine all those cryptocurrencies are just tech stocks that aren’t listed on the traditional exchanges that are used today.”
Tester’s latest comments come just a couple of weeks after he told media company Semafor that the industry was “all bullshit” and that he can’t “understand what sustains it.”
The Semafor article on December 1 was also riddled with anti-cryptocurrency stances from a group of Democratic senators, with crypto-hater Elizabeth Warren storming in by noting, “Finally, there are more people blowing the bullshit whistle.”
Bernie Sanders was at least more diplomatic, stating that “not a big fan” of cryptocurrencies.
Commenting on the article via Twitter, Semafor Washington editor, Jordan Weissmann suggested that since the FTX debacle, “Democrats suddenly feel free to say what they really think about the crypto industry.”
After FTX, it seems Dems suddenly feel free to say what they really think about the crypto industry.
Jon Tester told our reporter yesterday that he thinks the entire thing is “bullshit.” Warren, Brown, and Sanders also had words. https://t.co/LzbCM9SkJD
— Jordan Weissmann (@JHWeissmann) December 1, 2022
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