Warren Sounds Alarm on Crypto Risks While CZ Fires Back: Industry’s Make-or-Break Moment in 2025
Senator Elizabeth Warren just dropped a regulatory bombshell—claiming cryptocurrencies threaten economic stability. Binance's CZ countered hard, calling it 'a fundamental misunderstanding of decentralized finance.'
Here's why this clash matters now:
The Regulatory Gauntlet Thrown
Warren's latest push could fast-track legislation targeting stablecoins and DeFi protocols. Sources say her draft bill borrows heavily from traditional finance frameworks—ironic, given her criticism of banks during the 2008 crisis.
Crypto's Counterpunch
CZ's rebuttal highlighted blockchain's settlement finality and 24/7 markets—features Wall Street still can't replicate after decades of trying. 'They fear what they can't control,' he tweeted to 9.2M followers.
The Bottom Line
This isn't just another political skirmish. With Bitcoin hovering near $70K and institutional adoption at all-time highs, 2025 could become crypto's Waterloo—or its moment of mainstream validation. Meanwhile, traditional finance keeps charging 2% management fees for 1% returns.
CZ Says NYSE Isn’t the Whole Economy
During a July 17 interview with Bloomberg, Warren criticized the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts, arguing they fail to address “Trump’s corruption” and do little to prevent bad actors from exploiting crypto.
“They also don’t put enough safeguards in place for consumer protection to make sure that terrorists and human traffickers, and drug traffickers can’t use the system and guardrails to make sure that crypto isn’t used to blow up our entire economy,” commented the lawmaker.
Specifically, Warren raised concerns over a provision in the CLARITY Act that could allow large companies like Amazon and Meta to sidestep SEC oversight by “digitizing themselves.” According to her, such gaps could enable these parties to use crypto in ways that might affect the NYSE.
Zhao questioned this view, saying, “She wants to limit US companies (Amazon, Meta, GE) to protect the ‘US economy’ / NYSE?”
He pushed back on the idea that the NYSE represents the broader economy, pointing out that it’s just one company, wholly owned by ICE, with a market cap of around $100 billion. On the other hand, Amazon alone is valued at $2.4 trillion.
“NYSE ≠ economy,” argued Zhao. “All companies = economy.”
“Superhighway of Crypto Corruption”
Warren has consistently criticized the proposed cryptocurrency bills, which she argues could enable corruption tied to the Trump family’s crypto ventures. During a recent Senate hearing, the Democrat urged Congress to implement stricter regulations on digital assets.
She referred to his businesses, including the USD1 stablecoin and the TRUMP memecoin, as a “superhighway of crypto corruption,” alleging they’ve become major sources of his wealth.
Trump reported incomes exceeding $57 million from World Liberty Financial, the firm behind USD1. According to Chainalysis, the President and his associates have also pocketed more than $320 million in fees alone from the TRUMP meme coin.
Warren had encouraged Congress to delay or reject the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts unless they include Anti-money laundering rules, sanctions enforcement, and prohibitions on public officials profiting from crypto.
She seemed to have been getting her way yesterday, after a dispute over whether the bills explicitly ban central bank digital currencies temporarily derailed a procedural motion to bring them to the floor of the House for debate.
However, President Trump’s intervention secured the support of several rebellious GOP lawmakers, allowing the vote to pass today, 217 to 212. According to journalist Eleanor Terrett, GENIUS will now get a vote tomorrow, with CLARITY’s possibly coming next week.
