Senator Mitt Romney, former Presidential candidate who has been making headlines for his opposition of President Trump as impeachment proceedings are being carried out, has expressed criticism of cryptocurrency in United States as well. The Republican senator stated that his opposition to crypto is due to the threat it present to the nation’s security.
During a conference in the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Senator Mitt Romney questioned individuals from different government agencies of the FBI, Homeland Security and the Center of National Counterterrorism about the threats that are posed to the United States. The senator raised questions regarding how will the United States act on the potential danger of cryptocurrencies or will the country refuse to do anything about it.
The FBI responded with a detailed answer about how cryptocurrencies are a significant problem that will only increase with time.
Senator Romney claimed in the hearing that although he is not in the banking committee and does not have substantial information about the complex workings of crypto, he still thinks it is difficult to carry out investigations for these departments when the money cannot be tracked because transactions are anonymous. He further added that therefore there is a need for an action to be taken to properly deal with cryptocurrency in the country.
The FBI Director Warns about Crypto, But Doesn’t Make Regulation Recommendation
The senator invited three different figures as witnesses from varied security departments to answer questions on cryptocurrency. The FBI Director Christopher A. Wray conveyed how great of a problem cryptocurrency already is from security perspective. The FBI Director also expressed that the agency predicts that the problem will only increase in the future and whether or not there should be regulations placed on crypto is harder for him to say with certainty.
Director Wray was cautious about not suggesting any policy or regulation recommendation. He claimed that the anonymous transaction nature of cryptocurrency has become a part of a larger problem as it can be used by terrorist organizations as their expertise in technology increases.
The FBI Director further stated that they are viewing cryptocurrencies from an investigative standpoint and that includes the tools and methods they have in order to track and try to follow the money. He says that apart from cryptocurrency, there are other types of new technologies that if the United States is not careful could potentially be damaging to the country. He asserted that the FBI could end up meeting a lot of obstacles that could prevent them from doing their jobs in the not so distant future.
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