- Despite Biden’s support, Warren maintains an anti-crypto stance.
- Crypto shapes political discourse and voter sentiment ahead of upcoming U.S. elections.
Despite Biden’s recent pro-crypto stance, Senator Elizabeth Warren remains staunchly anti-crypto. On the 29th of May, in a joint letter with Senator William Cassidy, Warren shared updates sent in from drug agencies on crypto’s role in the illicit fentanyl market.
The letter in detail
The letter written to Rahul Gupta, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy noted,
“We are writing to express our ongoing concerns about the role of cryptocurrency in the international fentanyl trafficking trade and to seek an update on the Biden Administration’s actions to crack down on drug traffickers’ exploitation of crypto to grow their business and launder their ill-gotten gains.”
Warren’s letter underscores the significant impact of illicitly produced fentanyl on rising overdose deaths in the United States. It also highlighted the influence of cryptocurrency in enabling the fentanyl trade and money laundering.
Supporting their argument with a series of data, Warren and Cassidy concluded the letter by asking specific questions to the Biden administration, requesting responses by 14th June.
Source: Warren.senate.gov
Not her first time!
This isn’t the first time Warren highlighted her strong anti-crypto stance. On October 2023 she underlined how Hamas utilized cryptocurrency to finance its terrorist activities during the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Source: Elizabeth Warren/X
Additionally, while citing a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report in January, she underscored how “rogue nations are using crypto to dodge sanctions and undermine our national security”.
Source: Elizabeth Warren/X
Crypto in politics or politics in crypto?
Interestingly, portraying himself as a pro-crypto leader, former president Donald Trump in his recent speech stated,
“I will keep Elizabeth Warren and her goons away from your #Bitcoin”
This highlights how crypto has significantly impacted the 2024 presidential campaigns, leading some to dub it the “Bitcoin election”.
This sentiment was reinforced by a recent survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Grayscale, which emphasized,
“Nearly a third of voters (32%) say that they are more open to learning about crypto investing or actually investing in crypto since the beginning of the year.”
Source: Grayscale/Harris Poll