US Democrat Hillary Clinton is no fan of cryptocurrencies. That’s no surprise. What is perplexing, however, is how great she thinks their power is.
As a rule, Hillary Clinton and Russian politicians have little in common. But that changes when it comes to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
The former First Lady, Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate also spoke about cryptocurrencies in a panel discussion. She said these have “the power to weaken entire countries.”
Governments around the world are facing new challenges, such as misinformation and artificial intelligence, she said. The politician hopes “that nation states will start paying more attention to the rise of cryptocurrencies. Because what looks like a very interesting and exotic attempt to literally create new coins to trade has the potential to undermine currencies, to undermine the role of the dollar as a reserve currency, to destabilise nation states, maybe the small ones first, but then the big ones as well. “
You remember how @HillaryClinton was right about everything in 2016? Well she’s right about crypto now.
It has the “potential to undermine the dollar… to destabilize nations.” Yes it does. Pay attention. pic.twitter.com/FGHsO6jIHo
– Jim Stewartson, Antifascist, RIPQ ☠️ (@jimstewartson) November 19, 2021
Of course, one could debate dry heaving with Mrs Clinton. Does bitcoin really have that potential? Is it not rather the dollar that undermines nation states, and does not Bitcoin rather show this weakness? Is it perhaps even a good thing if nation states are threatened by Bitcoin to the extent that it makes it more difficult to finance politics through the printing press? Is it not politicians who are responsible for the weal and woe of states? Is Mrs Clinton trying to prepare a scapegoat in Bitcoin?
But what is the point? It seems more sensible to note that Hillary Clinton speaks for all those politicians who advocate an economic policy of soft money and who therefore view Bitcoin with fear and hostility, both ideologically and practically. Having been unable to grasp the potential of cryptocurrencies for a long time, it is slowly dawning on them what has been unfolding before their eyes, and what is in others a partial loss of enthusiasm is in her becoming fear and anger.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are not attacking nation states. They attack a certain way of running a nation state.
With this anti-crypto stance, Hillary Clinton is probably closer to China’s Communist Party than to some party comrades, such as New York Mayor Eric Adams. Another common ground can be found with Hillary’s arch-enemies – the Russians.
For the director of Russia’s central tax service, Daniil Egorov, also sees a great danger in cryptocurrencies. In a television interview, he said they are watching the crypto market closely “and we understand that this payment system can significantly undermine the tax base. “
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned nations across the globe to take the growing popularity of crypto seriously, because these instruments have the potential to undermine the power of nation states & the role of the US dollar in the global economy.
Thoughts pic.twitter.com/gE5HqHpnMn
– EthereumMax (@ethereum_max) November 22, 2021
Like Clinton, Egorov wants governments to address the problem, in a “systematic way”. Like Hillary Clinton, he did not reveal more details. Unlike Clinton, however, Egorov also sees advantages in crypto: he mentions that the central tax service already uses “blockchain technology” to store important documents, for example.
For all their differences, there are clear similarities between Clinton and Egorov. Both are politicians of a country that benefits greatly from Bitcoin, but both are also unable to integrate these benefits meaningfully into their political agendas. Another commonality is that the two are more likely to lead the way when they fear that Bitcoin will undermine nation states (or their tax base). They certainly won’t be the last to do so.
