Senator Jon Tester Says There is ‘No Reason’ Why Cryptos Should Exist

Jon Tester is just one of many Democratic senators who have recently criticized the cryptocurrency industry. He contends that since the industry is supported by nothing and offers nothing, there is "no reason" why it should even exist.

Democrat Jon Tester (1), who represents the state of Tennessee in the United States Senate, recently made headlines by brazenly declaring that he saw "no reason why" cryptocurrency should exist.

Tester is the senior senator of Montana and has served in that capacity since 2007. He has held this position since 2007. Additionally, he is a part of the Senate Banking Committee, one of the most influential bodies participating in the ongoing discussion regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the United States.

During an NBC's Meet the Press (2) appearance on December 11, Senator Tester stated that because cryptocurrencies have no actual value, the sector shouldn't be regulated because doing so would give it credibility. He made this point during his appearance.

"It doesn't even come close to passing the sniff test," he said. "I have not been able to locate anybody who has been able to explain to me what's there other than synthetics [...] which means nothing," he stated, adding that: "I have not been able to find anybody who has been able to explain to me what's there other than synthetics."

"The difficulty is that if we regulate it, it may give people the ability to think that it's genuine," I pointed this up to some of the regulators here a week or two ago. "If we controlled it," I said, "it may give people the ability to think that it's real."

In keeping with this line of thinking, Tester went on to say that there is "no reason why this thing should exist" at all, which was his follow-up statement.

Netizens Criticized The Statement

The cryptocurrency community was not shy about criticizing the senator for his anti-crypto remarks and his self-admitted lack of knowledge regarding cryptocurrencies.

Tester's most recent contentious remarks come just a few weeks after he stated that the industry was "all bullshit" and that he can't "figure out what supports it." Tester's most recent comments are particularly contentious because they come so soon after Tester's previous comments.

The post published (1) by Semafor on December 1 was also packed with negative crypto viewpoints from a slew of Democrat senators. Elizabeth Warren, a vocal opponent of cryptocurrencies, went in for the kill, saying,

"finally, there are more people blowing the BS whistle."

At least Bernie Sanders was more polite when he said he's "not a huge admirer" of crypto.

Responding to the article via Twitter, Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann recommended that ever since the FTX scandal occurred,

"Dems suddenly feel free to say what they think about the crypto industry." This was in response to the author's claim that "Dems suddenly feel free to say what they think about the crypto industry."