Elon Musk has sided with the founder of Dogecoin in his criticism of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren concerning crypto being a threat.
In a recent interview, Senator Warren argued that cryptocurrency is the new threat in town. The foundation of her view is the half-truth claim that crypto is being used for terror financing, drug tracking, and other global criminalities.
Moreover, Warren cited North Korea is leveraging crypto to disburse payments for its nuclear weapon program. Amid the highlighted concerns, the Senator lamented against crypto, saying, “We cannot allow that to continue.”
Expectedly, the U.S. politician’s claim against crypto was not welcoming to the crypto community. One of the leading voices that weighed on the matter was Billy Markus, the pseudonymous founder of Dogecoin, who uses the X username “Shibetoshi Nakamoto.”
Specifically, Markus argued that Senator Warren’s hostility towards crypto stems from her love and favoritism towards banks and wealthy individuals. Additionally, he noted she now “hates the people.”
Markus’ words represent an accusation that Senator Warren is not supportive of the financial interests of ordinary citizens who may be involved in crypto. Moreover, he remarked that the “younger Elizabeth Warren would have declared the enemy of the people to be current Elizabeth Warren.”
Essentially, the Dogecoin founder’s view implies a belief that Warren has become hypocritical and out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people.
Elon Musk Agrees
Interestingly, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter), supported Billy Markus’ critique of the U.S. Senator. He specifically responded to Markus’ tweet, saying, “True.”
True
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 8, 2023
Crypto Share of Terror Financing is Nearly Insiginicant
It is worth mentioning that the argument that crypto is being employed for financing terror is an overstatement.
Andrzej Gwizdalski, a University of Western Australia lecturer, has researched that contrary to popular claims, crypto-based fraud constitutes less than 1% of the trillions of dollars involved in criminal activities within the traditional monetary system.
Curating data from the World Economic Forum (WEF), the United Nations (UN), and Cryptoanalysis, Gwizdalski found that fiat, such as the U.S. dollar, is deeply involved in terror financing. Specifically, USD and other fiat currencies are found to be involved in an evaluated $3.2 trillion in prohibited activities yearly.
Furthermore, the report emphasized that fiat contribution to criminalities is 100 times the involvement of cryptocurrencies, estimated at a modest $20 billion.
Besides, the university scholar highlighted that the transparent nature of every transaction on the blockchain is particularly a disadvantage to criminal entities as it makes crypto a less appealing choice for illicit activities.
