Senator Warren: The SEC Needs to Regulate the Volatile Crypto Markets

Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren continues to bash the cryptocurrency space by calling the market “highly opaque and volatile.” Nevertheless, she believes the US watchdog – the SEC – needs to step up and implement a proper regulatory framework to enhance investors’ safety amid their growing demand.

Surging Demand for the Opaque Crypto Market

It’s not uncommon for those in power to lash out against the decentralized and unregulated nature of the cryptocurrency market. Elizabeth Warren, a 72-year-old former law professor, currently serving as the senior US Senator from Massachusetts, is not an exception.

Earlier in June, she called crypto a “lousy investment” compared to the stock market, even though BTC has continued to outperform the S&P 500 and other popular indexes year after year.

Furthermore, she broached the role that digital assets play in illegal activities like ransomware and hacks as they are the preferred payment method. More recently, she outlined the risks related to the market once more, as this time she referred to it as “highly opaque and volatile.”

However, she admitted that investors had been increasingly more interested in allocating funds in bitcoin or other virtual currencies, especially in the past year or so. As such, she believes watchdogs have to step up to make sure this demand goes to a well-regulated financial market.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Source: Politico

The SEC Should Regulate Crypto

“While the demand for cryptocurrencies and the use of cryptocurrency exchanges have skyrocketed, the lack of common-sense regulations has left ordinary investors at the mercy of manipulators and fraudsters.” – the US Senator asserted.

She indicated that these “regulatory gaps” have endangered investors and “undermined” the safety of the financial markets. Consequently, she urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to “use its full authority to address these risks.” Additionally, she believes Congress has the responsibility to “close these regulatory gaps.”

According to data shared by Senator Warren, roughly 7,000 people have filed complaints indicating that they have lost over $80 million from various cryptocurrency scams in the six months until March 2021.