Share this article
Most Influential 2021: Elizabeth Warren
The progressive Massachusetts senator has brought the fight against crypto to Washington.
By CoinDesk
Updated May 11, 2023, 4:31 p.m. Published Dec 9, 2021, 8:24 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) isn’t the only U.S. politician to look at the cryptocurrency industry with a critical eye, but she may be the most sharp tongued. “Instead of leaving our financial system at the whims of giant banks, crypto puts the system at the whims of some shadowy faceless group of super coders and miners, which doesn’t sound better to me,” she said at a U.S. Senate Banking Committee meeting in July.
The progressive lawmaker, founder of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has raised concerns about retail investors’ ability to access crypto trading platforms as well as the industry’s environmental footprint. Warren isn’t taken by the idea that bitcoin could be a powerful tool in making the U.S. banking system more transparent, resilient and fairer – one of her supposed policy goals. But her influence over the future of crypto, for better or worse, is clear.
The Complete List: CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2021
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Russia plans to cap retail crypto buys at $4,000 as it brings digital assets into the legal fold
Russian lawmakers plan crypto regulations by midyear, permitting trading for qualified and retail investors while banning anonymous coins and domestic payments.
What to know:
- Russia plans to introduce a comprehensive crypto market regulatory framework by July 1, 2027.
- Both qualified and unqualified investors will be allowed to buy cryptocurrencies under different rules, with qualified investors facing mandatory risk testing but no limits on most purchases.
- The central bank is expected to approve a shortlist of major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether for broad trading, ban privacy coins like monero and zcash, and impose penalties comparable to illegal banking for unlawful crypto activities.
Top Stories
