Jon Tester, senator of Montana, asserts that regulating cryptocurrency would encourage “people to believe it’s genuine.”
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, former Montana farmer and educator turned U.S. Senator Jon Tester told presenter Chuck Todd that cryptocurrencies had “failed the smell test” for him.
The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee member was asked to address Kyrsten Sinema’s departure from the Democratic Party.
“You described crypto with some colorful words,” Todd said as the session came to a conclusion. Should the government regulate or prohibit its use?
“I’m not a regulator and I’m not a finance guy who performs regulation,” Tester disclaimed before concluding, “I see no need for this thing to exist. I really do not.”
While Tester claims he is not a regulator, his position on the Senate banking committee gives him leverage as a member of one of the primary decision-making organizations presently considering whether or not to regulate the troubled cryptocurrency business.
His website states, “Senator Tester adds a rural perspective to this committee to ensure that laws and policies benefit small banks, credit unions, small companies, and rural customers.”
Sen. Tester has made no secret of his antipathy for cryptocurrencies, declaring to Semafor last week, “It’s all nonsense.”
In the aftermath of the U.S. Midterm Elections, Democratic senators regrouped their agenda for the banking committee. According to a Roll Call article, party leaders were wary of the proposed Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), which would make the CFTC the principal authority for U.S. crypto regulation rather than the Securities and Exchange Commission or other agencies.
Also known as the Stabenow-Boozman bill, the initiative to strengthen the CFTC was sponsored by Sam Bankman-Fried, who has now become an international pariah with the dramatic collapse of his FTX exchange and Alameda Research trading business.
Also Read: Cathie Wood Backs Bitcoin And DeFi And Criticizes SBF
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