Brad Sherman, US Congress representative, who is mostly known for his critics over digital assets, has once again created headlines and is calling his colleagues to introduce a bill to ban digital assets in the country.
Congressman Sherman, put-forth the idea of passing a bill on imposing a ban on virtual currencies on May 9th, 2019, at the House Financial Services Committee meeting.
According to the House Financial Services Committee, Sherman intends to pass a law that will make buying and selling of digital currencies illegal for US citizens and is a step to safeguard the country. He believes that the digital currency replaces the US dollar in the financial system especially during the time of carrying illegal activities.
It’s not clear if Sherman will be successful in getting the support from his congress members to outlaw cryptocurrencies.
He said:
“I look for colleagues to join with me in introducing a bill to outlaw cryptocurrency purchase by Americans so that we nip this in the bud.”
Sherman is defiant on his idea and says the ban is essential citing reason as the US dollar is the standard unit of international finance and transaction and due to this fact the US gains power, digital currency might take away power from us and will only benefit criminal to carry illegal activities such as drug dealing, money laundering, and tax evasion.
Sherman’s Twitter post says:
“Whether it disempowers our foreign policy, out tax collection enforcement, or our traditional law enforcement, the purpose of cryptocurrency, the advantage it has over sovereign currency is solely to aid in the disempowerment of the United States and the rule of law.”
Sherman raising the cryptocurrencies matter within the House Financial Committee is not for the first time, but this is for the first time he addressed of cryptocurrency being a threat to existing power structures of US.
Sherman, not the only one to call a ban on cryptocurrency, before this Joseph Stiglitz, economist and Nobel Prize winner had suggested on Monday, to shut the digital currencies.
The crypto enthusiast has responded to the idea of Sherman; some say he is negatively looking over the useful applications of digital currency, and the use of technology to carry illegal activities should not be neglected too.
Congressman Proves his Opinion with Example
Californian based Congressman Sherman is shocked, by knowing increased use of cryptocurrency by criminals to perform illegal activities. He even gave an example of Hamas a Palestinian terror group. The terror group is going through financial isolation, and it’s because of US economic sanctions, this had led Hamas to turn towards digital currencies and ask for Bitcoin donations.
Iran and Iran support Hamas invested largely in the terror group. Now, when Iran is going through a tough financial situation due to hefty US sanctions, their economy seems to be paralyzed. To overcome its financial crisis and the US sanctions, Iran has started accepting digital currencies.
He pointed out that over the Hamas website, it instructs the user how one can send cryptocurrency to the terrorist organization. He said cryptocurrencies are only useful for those who wish to carry criminal activities.
According to Sherman, this is example shows how cryptocurrencies are used by criminals to control American international policy.
A year ago, in March 2018, Research Director of CoinCenter, Peter Van Valkenburg spoke to Sherman and informed him about the advantages happening in developing nations.