Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat, has come out as yet another crypto-skeptic, asserting that he saw “no reason why” crypto should exist. Tester served as the senior Senator for Montana since 2007. Additionally, he is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, an important party in the continuing discussion of U.S. crypto regulation.

Tester stated that since cryptocurrency has no real value, the industry should not be regulated. Doing so would lend it credibility. He opined,

“It’s not been able to pass the smell test for me. I have not been able to find anybody who’s been able to explain to me what’s there other than synthetics […] which means nothing. The problem is, if we regulate it – and I pointed this out to some of the regulators here a week or two ago – if we regulate it, it may give it the ability of people to think it’s real.”

US getting serious on crypto regulations

Although Tester claimed that he is not a regulator, his membership on the Senate Banking Committee gave him access to a major decision-making organization that was discussing whether to regulate the troubled crypto economy.

Democratic senators gathered to focus on the banking committee’s agenda following US midterm elections. According to a Roll Call article, party leaders have expressed reservations about the proposed Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), which would make the CFTC – rather than the Securities and Exchange Commission or other agencies – the primary authority for US crypto regulation.

Senator Tester opposed to the Stabenow-Boozman Bill being submitted in the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, where Republican Senator John Boozman of Arkansas serves as ranking member. Furthermore, he cautioned against lending cryptocurrency additional legitimacy.

Not the first one on these grounds 

Several Democratic senators expressed their disapproval of cryptocurrencies in Semafor’s piece published on 2 December. Crypto-hater Elizabeth Warren infamously wrote,

“Finally, more people are blowing the BS whistle.”

At least Bernie Sanders was more tactful when he said he was “not a huge admirer” of cryptocurrency.

Senator Tester was a vocal opponent of Facebook’s failed cryptocurrency project, Libra, in 2019. He connected the 2008 financial disaster to the threat of insufficient crypto regulations at the time.