Sen. Toomey says China’s latest crypto moves represent ‘a big opportunity for the US’

Pat Toomey, a Republican senator from Pennsylvania, commented on Twitter regarding China’s most recent crackdown on bitcoin. 

“China’s authoritarian crackdown on crypto, including #Bitcoin, is a big opportunity for the U.S. It’s also a reminder of our huge structural advantage over China,” the senator wrote. 

He added: “Beijing is so hostile to economic freedom they cannot even tolerate their people participating in what is arguably the most exciting innovation in finance in decades. Economic liberty leads to faster growth, and ultimately, a higher standard of living for all.”

Toomey’s comments follow the most recent decisions from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to treat fiat-crypto or crypto-crypto trading as illicit activities, as well as to deem crypto derivative trading — even for foreign exchanges offering services to Chinese residents — illegal. 

The PBoC’s move to effectively ban crypto trading follows a series of decisions to undermine its domestic crypto economy. China ramped up its efforts to diminish bitcoin mining earlier this year to allegedly lower the country’s carbon emissions. 

However, officials then pursued miners using sustainable hydroelectric power, suggesting environmental concerns were not the main motivator to undercut domestic mining prowess, writes The Block’s Asia editor Wolfie Zhao.