Hillary Clinton Thinks Bitcoin Could Undermine US Dollar Reserve Status

Former US secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton believes cryptocurrencies pose a serious threat to countries as they may “undermine” the US dollar and thus destabilise nations.

During Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum, Clinton addressed some of the challenges nations are facing, such as disinformation, advances in artificial intelligence, and the rise of cryptocurrencies. She said that while they look like a “very interesting and exotic effort”, cryptos can be “extremely destabilising in the hands of the wrong people”.

There’s a whole new layer of activity that could be extremely destabilising or, in the wrong hands or in alliances with the wrong people, could be direct threats to many of our nation-states and certainly to the global currency markets.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Of course, the crypto community took it all with humour and rather mocked Clinton’s claims, which go hand in hand with the Biden administration and its effort to undermine American crypto innovation with the US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

Russia-backed Hackers Using Bitcoin

With “the hands of the wrong people”, Clinton is referring to hackers and organised groups who receive donations in bitcoin to fund illicit activities, which, according to Clinton, are “backed by Russia and other nations”.

But the US dollar is still the currency of choice when it comes to funding illicit activity. While that happens, hedge funds and countries are exploring how to make use of blockchain technology and crypto. We can talk about central banks worldwide that are considering launching CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies), or reckless hedge funds like Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy buying hundreds of millions of dollars during dips.

An example of bitcoin adoption was shown by Central American republic El Salvador and its decision to make BTC legal tender in the country, allowing unbanked citizens access to digital wallets and to transact BTC seamlessly to reduce costs in remittances, as many individuals working overseas send money home to their Salvadorean families.