Senator and Crypto Critic Elizabeth Warren Enters 2020 US Presidential Race

United States Senator and cryptocurrency critic Elizabeth Warren has announced her bid for President in 2020, the New York Times reported on Dec. 31. Following her announcement, Sen. Warren made plans to visit the state of Iowa, which hosts the first presidential caucuses in the country in February 2020.

Warren is the senior U.S. senator from Massachusetts and has held office in the Senate since 2013. The senator is known for her criticism of cryptocurrencies, having repeatedly expressed concerns that cryptocurrency consumers could be hurt by scam initial coin offerings (ICOs) while also stating that crypto is “easy to steal.”

Speaking at a Senate Banking Committee hearing in October, Warren asserted that “the challenge is how to nurture productive aspects of crypto with protecting consumers.” The Senator also outlined that American consumers are falling victim to cryptocurrency scammers. Sen. Warren reiterated her critical stance in November, stating:

“It’s American families that end up paying the price when any regulator says we’re more interested in Wall Street. What I think is that we need a [Federal Reserve] that is engaged in watching where risk builds up in the system. That’s the Fed’s job — that’s not the job of American families.”

Regulation of the cryptocurrency space is a matter of much concern for industry players. Today, venture capital investor Fred Wilson wrote in a blog post that he is especially concerned about the “actions brought by misguided regulators who will take aim at high quality projects and harm them.”

Wilson also suggested that Donald Trump will be impeached and removed from the White House by the end of 2019 following a report to be issued by Robert Mueller that outlines an alleged history of illegal activities by the president and his electoral campaign.

On Dec. 6, U.S. Representatives Darren Soto and Ted Budd introduced two bills aimed at preventing cryptocurrency price manipulation and optimizing the regulatory framework. The first bill outlines possible scenarios of price manipulation in crypto markets and advances remedies, whereas the second calls for a comparative study of regulatory arrangements in other national jurisdictions.

In November, the state of Ohio began accepting cryptocurrency as a payment option to pay taxes. Businesses will be able to pay 23 different taxes using BTC through an online portal that has been set up by the state treasury office. As it stands, individuals will not be able to use the service to pay private taxes.

Other U.S. states have tried to pass bills that would allow taxes to be paid using cryptocurrency. However, these bills have been stopped in their tracks by state lawmakers.