US senator Brad Sherman called cryptocurrencies “harmful” in a government meeting March 14, appearing to accidentally admit they reduce government control of the dollar.
Sherman: Crypto Is A ‘Crock’
Speaking during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investment (Committee on Financial Services), titled “Examining the Cryptocurrencies and ICO Markets,” Sherman decried the alleged lack of “social benefit” attached to Bitcoin investment.
“Cryptocurrencies are a crock. What social benefits to they provide?” he began his brief speech to the Subcommittee by saying.
Bitcoin and altcoin prices dipped sharply this week as pressure continues to drive a repetitive boom-and-bust cycle, with BTC/USD fluctuating between around $6,000 and $11,500.
Markets were briefly reassured February 6 following what commentators viewed as support from US national regulators on future legislation. Sherman, however, appeared to share none of the SEC and CFTC’s views that a hands-off, enabling approach was best.
“They allow a few dozen men to sit their pajamas and tell their wives they’re going to be millionaires, they help terrorists and criminals move money around the world, they help tax evaders, they help startup companies commit fraud, take the money and one percent of the time they actually create a useful business,” he pontificated.
Bitcoin ‘Hurts U.S. Government Contr—”
Reacting on social media, the increasingly broad cryptocurrency commentariat condemned Sherman for his shortsighted, specifically highlighting the irony implied by a Freudian slip during which he stopped himself from saying Bitcoin hindered government control over fiat.
“It hurts the US government in two ways: our contr… our ability to have the US dollar as the chief means of international finance is what has underpinned our ability to impose sanctions,” Sherman blundered on.
Leveling particular scorn at ICOs, Sherman’s other appraisals of Bitcoin included their “gambling” nature and being popular with those who read the novels of Ayn Rand:
[…]They’re popular with those who have read ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and ‘[The] Fountainhead’ and believe that these are the new cannons – they new divinely-inspired documents of our age.
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