Former US Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has joined the ranks of political leaders who seem worried about cryptocurrencies’ potential impact on nations – claiming they had the power to destabilize nations and their currencies.
Speaking via video at a panel discussion held today as part of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, Clinton reportedly said crypto had the potential to undermine the US dollar as the reserve currency.
“One more area that I hope nation-states start paying greater attention to is the rise of cryptocurrency — because what looks like a very interesting and somewhat exotic effort to literally mine new coins in order to trade with them has the potential for undermining currencies, for undermining the role of the dollar as the reserve currency, for destabilizing nations, perhaps starting with small ones but going much larger,” she said.
Clinton’s remarks came shortly after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his worries related to cryptocurrencies in a virtual address he gave at the Sydney Dialogue. The prime minister said that “democratic nations should work together on cryptocurrency to ensure it does not end up in the wrong hands.”
This approach was also reflected in a Twitter post that was released on his account shortly after the speech.
“Take cryptocurrency or bitcoin for example. It is important that all democratic nations work together on this and ensure it does not end up in [the] wrong hands, which can spoil our youth,” the tweet said.
Modi’s remarks come at a time when India’s government and lawmakers are discussing new regulations for cryptocurrencies, with local observers expecting relevant legislation to be developed during the winter session of the parliament which is to begin on November 29.
Meanwhile, Clinton’s remarks have drawn the ire of a number of social media users from the cryptosphere.
“Most people are buying crypto because price will increase, not to use as currency. And people using it as money very likely have no access to banks or countries with hyperinflation. Does she know the many other uses?” wrote user Golden Crypto.
Another user, who goes by the name of AZchilly, commented that crypto actually “weakens the power of central banks and their ability to print currency to oblivion.”
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Learn more:
– US Infra Act: Cryptoverse Says the Fight Isn’t Over, But Things Could Get ‘Messy’
– Bipartisan Bill Aims to Fix Infra Bill, TIME Holds Ethereum + More News
– India To Define Crypto As Asset, Ban Payments, and Ads – Report
– Modi Says Bitcoin in the ‘Wrong Hands’ Can ‘Spoil Our Youth’ as India Readies a CBDC
– Russian MPs Want Central Bank to ‘Consider Crypto’s Spread’
– Argentina U-Turns On Crypto Tax With New Regulation
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