Cryptocurrency advocacy group Coin Center responded to a strongly worded letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) demanding to know how many former government officials were hired to undermine legislative efforts. In response, the group He either refused to answer her questions or quit the job.
Last December, Warren sent a letter questioning cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and several industry groups. It is “wielding a secret weapon,” hiring former Pentagon and law enforcement officials in an attempt to undermine congressional efforts to address the role of cryptocurrencies in financing terrorist groups, including Hamas.
“This revolving door of abuse is appalling and shows the cryptocurrency industry is spending millions of dollars to ensure its legitimacy while fighting stonewall common sense rules designed to limit the use of cryptocurrencies for terrorist financing,” Warren told CoinCenter. “It serves the interests of cryptocurrency companies,” he said in a letter to .
Coin Center’s response
In response, Coin Center said it was under no obligation to answer her questions and began by refuting the idea that participating in public policy debates would undermine Congress’s efforts.
The Coin Center argued that what Warren described as a common-sense rule was unfair, unworkable and unconstitutional. They claim that it is right to oppose the bill on this basis, and they cannot apologize for this.
The agency wrote that it “conflated our patriotic duty to oppose the expansion of unconstitutional and harsh surveillance of political bias.”
Regarding the use of cryptocurrencies by organizations like Hamas, Coin Center wrote that Warren’s proposal would not be effective and would waste time and energy that could be spent on proven approaches to combating terrorist financing.
“If the gap exists, it is in enforcement, and if we truly care about the effectiveness of counterterrorism efforts, we would work to secure more funding for FinCEN, the FBI, the DOJ’s cryptocurrency enforcement agencies, and others,” Coin Center said.
Coin Center added that it is proud to support bipartisan efforts to understand and address the role of cryptocurrencies in financing Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including letters from lawmakers to the Treasury Department and the White House.
At the end of the letter, the agency declined to provide further answers to her questions but said there would be “honest and respectful policy discussions” moving forward.
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