US Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to eradicate all privacy from digital transactions. Wallets, nodes, and validators to be treated as “money service businesses.”
A Democrat who has a strong anti-crypto stance has published her draft crypto legislation. However, it is rife with glaring flaws that make it very evident that she is ignorant of the underlying technology. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network will be obligated by the bill to provide guidance on digital assets. She wants to treat the sector and asset class as criminal organizations.
That was the politician’s most recent outburst of hatred towards the cryptocurrency sector and everyone associated with it.
A broad variety of rules under the “Digital Asset Anti Money Laundering Act of 2022” eliminate any financial privacy. Warren wants to label wallets, nodes, and validators as “money service businesses,” demonstrating a shocking lack of understanding of the technology. Validators and nodes are pieces of software that authenticate blockchain transactions, they are not businesses.
Additionally, those organizations would have to register as financial institutions, just like in traditional finance and banking. As a result, they would have to track down and collect personal data from each user of their product.
Additionally, they would be required to report on their users without a court order, official request, or strong evidence. According to Elizabeth Warren, it would also be unlawful for these “financial institutions” to conduct any transactions using networks or privacy-enhancing techniques.
The Crypto Community Reacts
According to the research and advocacy group CoinCenter in Washington, DC, nothing in the law will stop the next FTX and it actually increases consumer risk. It further stated that Americans will not be allowed to have any technical safeguards of their personal privacy.
“The bill has been deliberately crafted to make permissionless blockchains unavailable to Americans by forcing all validators and developers of these networks to gate and surveil their infrastructure.”
Industry expert Ryan Sean Adams called it the most “significant attack on digital freedom” he’s ever seen. Moreover, he pointed out that the bill aims to ban financial privacy and turn America into a full-on surveillance state.
