U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis: Americans should hold Bitcoin for retirement

Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis expressed her support for Bitcoin (BTC) in a national television interview on Tuesday.

In the interview the Senator went onto express her support for American’s buying and holding BTC as part of their retirement savings strategy.

Explaining further, Lummis highlighted her concern for the future of the US Dollar (USD) in face of 2021’s high inflation rate and the latest measures announced by the Treasury in response.

The Senator accused the Treasury of “flooding [the] economy and the world economy with US Dollars”, suggesting that it would inevitably lead to the debasement of the USD (a decline in the value of the currency).

In response to this Lummis advocates that American savers would be better off adopting Bitcoin instead.

These comments come amidst moves by institutional finance into BTC as an inflation hedge.

Alongside attempts by China and Russia to starve-off the dollarisation of cross-border trade through the launch of their own central bank digital currencies  (CBDCs) – the Digital Yuan and the upcoming Digital Ruble.

In a series of tweets the Senator highlighted that financial innovations such as DeFi and Bitcoin offers digital gold for regular people, and provides them an accessible and attractive means to preserve wealth free from monetary policy.

Lummis puts her money where her mouth is and leads by example; revealing in the interview that she buys and holds Bitcoin herself, purchasing 5 BTC in 2013 (now worth around $180,000 as of today’s prices).

Senator Lummis leads the way to American Bitcoin adoption

Since the Wyoming Senator’s appointment to the Senate Banking Committee in February, she has become a congressional evangelist of cryptocurrency – working to ensure exploration of Bitcoin adoption is firmly on the agenda.

One of Lummis’ first moves has been the establishment of a Financial Innovation Caucus aimed at putting DeFi at the forefront of the Committees’ discussions, focusing on educating fellow committee members.

The Senator hopes that the Caucus will start the regulatory ball rolling towards the legalisation of cryptocurrencies as a recognised savings asset and legal tender for use in transactions, although this faces many financial regulatory barriers such as banking secrecy laws.

However, there doesn’t seem to be much regulatory appetite for cryptocurrencies in America this year, with the SEC curiously omitting any mention of Bitcoin from their 2021 regulatory agenda.

This follows the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies across Latin America.

For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here.