Janet Yellen, potential Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, concluded her Senate confirmation hearing today. She targeted cryptocurrency for its application in crime and enhanced the U.S. dollar exchange rate. However, the judgment came in acknowledgment to Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH). He asked Yellen about developing technical warnings related to financial terrorism and how Yellen views the Treasury’s role in the fight against illegal financial activities. Moreover, Hassan named crypto as a possible threat, and Yellen admitted.
Through her confirmation hearing, Yellen raised concerns regarding employing bitcoin and cryptocurrency by terrorists and money launderers. Yellen asserted that she thinks various cryptocurrencies are applied in a transactional sense, mainly for illicit finance. Yellen added that regulators should explore ways to reduce the use of those cryptocurrencies. Further, she asserts that the regulators should ensure that money laundering does not happen via cryptocurrency channels. Those comments are not entirely unexpected, as Yellen has historically been a vocal critic of Bitcoin.
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Today’s judgments from Yellen will probably prompt additional interests over crypto regulation. Yellen also requested a fair dollar rate in the foreign exchange market at the Senate confirmation hearing. The international community has long blamed China for undermining its currency to stimulate exports, and a strong U.S. dollar benefits China further this alleged manipulation. Nevertheless, since the U.S. is a net importing country, intentional weakening of the dollar will destroy its economy.
Janet Yellen continued that the U.S. Treasury would operate overtime to issue a second relief package following Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimuli. She states that the lack of aid would worsen the fiscal response’s slowdown to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yellen’s speech seems to have stirred the market undeviatingly, which examined the U.S. dollar’s devaluation favoring inflation hedges like gold, Bitcoin, and equities.
Moreover, the U.S. DXY (Dollar Currency Index), which includes the dollar upon a basket of six rival currencies, dropped 0.28% on a daily scale. Meantime, the Gold and S&P 500 index increased by 0.29% and 0.43%, each, since today’s market opened, attaining on positive stimulus news and a weak dollar. Ultimately, the price of Bitcoin jumped 2.3% to a daily peak value of $37,857 thanks to the vulnerability of the U.S. dollar.
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