The United States House Financial Services Committee has enough reasons to think that local terrorists are using Bitcoin to fund their activities. According to the U.S. officials, the nature of Bitcoin and other digital currencies provide Nazis and local terrorists with the chance to fund their activities.
On January 15th, the United States House Financial Services Committee held a hearing. During the session, its members addressed the issue of digital currencies. Congressman Brad Sherman of California, led by claiming that cryptocurrency’s security and secrecy aids domestic terrorists in funding their operations in the United States. He said:
“If it works for Hamas, it will work for the Nazis, too.”
In addition, New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security, Preparedness Director Jared Maples, as well as the finance expert of Congressional Research Service; Rena Miller, raised similar concerns. As per Maples, Hamas favors the use of digital currencies due to their secrecy and privacy nature. In addition, he claimed that the Daily Stormer, Andrew Anglin, received a donation in Bitcoins worth $60,000 after an attack on Charlottesville, Virginia.
House Members in Agreement
Furthermore, the other members of the House Committee were in agreement with the claims. The noted that several known cases of neo-Nazi members who use or receive donations in digital currencies; allowing them to run their operations throughout the United States. George Selim, the Anti-Defamation League Senior Vice President; noted that known Nazi websites such as ‘Stormfront’ have been hugely reliant on such donations.
Moving forward, the House Committee members had an agreement that it is significant to fight terrorist groups. Moreover, they noted that they will be conscious of the privacy of cryptocurrency users who are not affiliated with such groups. At the moment, the most efficient way to fight these terror groups; is by cutting off their modes of funding. So far, they have received donations through channels such as PayPal; earnings made through YouTube advertisements, hate sites and selling songs on platforms such as iTunes.
Brad Sherman Hates Bitcoin
Over the last eleven years, numerous U.S. officials have spoken against bitcoin and the rest of the digital currency market. However, Brad Sherman appears to be the harshest cryptocurrency critic in the country. Sherman has repeatedly claimed that Bitcoin has no any other use apart from funding wicked operations. This has been his point of argument for a couple of years and he has also advocated for the total ban of cryptocurrencies many times. Back in 2019, Sherman appeared on Bloomberg discussing the risks and dangers posed by Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency. He claimed that stablecoin is a threat to the United States economy and national security.
However, before long he turned his attention to the whole cryptocurrency industry, bashing Bitcoin in the process. He said:
“You can’t buy a pack of gum for a Bitcoin. It has to have to an off-ramp so that you can then convert it into a sovereign currency, claiming that this is where Libra comes in.”
As a result, Sherman’s ‘review’ of cryptocurrencies was not well received by the digital currency industry. Most participants questioned his limited knowledge and misunderstanding of the cryptocurrency sector.
In Conclusion
The general attitude towards cryptocurrencies is changing across the globe. However, the United States still holds on its decision to try and outlast the frenzy. The superpower still has no clear regulation, and it does not seem to care about losing businesses that are fleeing the country in favor of more crypto-friendlier environments.
