- Jerome Powell has called for urgent crypto regulation in the wake of its use during the Ukraine conflict
- Powell said that the conflict “underscored” the need for “Congressional action”
- Russia’s ability to use cryptocurrency to evade sanctions has been widely debunked
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has said that the Ukraine conflict has “underscored” the need for swift regulation of the cryptocurrency space. Speaking yesterday to the House Financial Services Committee, Powell said that the suggestions that Russia was using crypto to circumnavigate sanctions, which has largely been debunked, were concerning and showed why regulation was needed sooner rather than later. The Ukraine conflict has been used by other anti-crypto entities to push their agendas, ignoring the fact that crypto has helped raise more than $50 million for the cause.
Powell Wants “Congressional Action” on Crypto
Powell’s testimony was focused on the economy at large, including what steps the Fed was taking to alleviate inflation during the tumultuous time for the economy, but, naturally, touched on crypto, with specific reference to the Ukraine conflict and cryptocurrency’s use within it.
Powell ignored the huge amounts of money that crypto users have raised and instead focused on the negative:
(The Ukraine-Russia conflict) underscored the need for Congressional action on digital finance including cryptocurrencies. We have this burgeoning industry which has many parts to it, and there isn’t in place the kind of regulatory framework that needs to be there.
Russia’s Crypto Backdoor Has Been Debunked
Powell’s words echo those of Senator Elizabeth Warren, who said on Monday that “Cryptocurrencies risk undermining sanctions against Russia” and that “U.S. financial regulators need to take this threat seriously and increase their scrutiny of digital assets.”
However, the ability for Russia to use cryptocurrency to evade sanctions to anything like the scale it needs has been widely debunked, not that you’ll see that mentioned much anywhere in the mainstream media.
