U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approving spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). She stressed that the securities regulator is “wrong on the law and wrong on the policy with respect to the bitcoin ETF decision.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren Unhappy With SEC’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s recent approval of 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) drew immediate criticism from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has long been a vocal skeptic of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The senator wrote on social media platform X Thursday:
The SEC is wrong on the law and wrong on the policy with respect to the bitcoin ETF decision.
“If the SEC is going to let crypto burrow even deeper into our financial system, then it’s more urgent than ever that crypto follow basic anti-money laundering rules,” she stressed.
Several “community notes” were placed on Warren’s tweet. “There are already robust laws to prevent crypto money laundering. U.S. agencies, such as FinCEN, SEC, [and] CFTC, enforce anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, sanctions adherence, and the txn monitoring. States like New York (Bitlicense) also contribute to AML efforts.” Another community note states: “The SEC acted in accordance to new ‘circumstances’ brought up by the Judge in Grayscale Investments, LLC v. SEC. This is admitted by SEC Chair Gary Gensler.”
Warren is a vocal critic of cryptocurrency. In October last year, the senator and over 100 legislators penned a bipartisan note to Biden administration officials, raising concerns over Hamas evading U.S. sanctions and securing millions through crypto assets.
The Massachusetts senator has introduced the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act to “close loopholes in current law and bring cryptocurrency companies into greater compliance with the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AMF/CFT) frameworks that govern much of the financial system.” Noting that Warren’s bill is effectively “a crypto ban,” the Chamber of Digital Commerce has set up a petition to stop the proposal.
Moreover, despite their shared skepticism towards crypto, Senator Warren and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon find themselves on opposite sides of the spot bitcoin ETF debate. While Dimon has insisted that bitcoin has no value and its primary use cases are illicit activities, JPMorgan is serving as a lead authorized participant for Blackrock’s spot bitcoin ETF.
What do you think about the statements by Senator Elizabeth Warren about spot bitcoin ETF approvals? Let us know in the comments section below.
