- Fake news started surfacing recently about Senator Elizabeth Warren’s proposed 1% crypto tax and reporting guidelines, which was picked up by mainstream media.
- Warren is up for re-election in Massachusetts against crypto lawyer John Deaton.
Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Fake Letter About a Crypto Tax Legislation
A hoax started going around on social media yesterday, which was also picked up by major news outlets. The fake news centered on Senator Elizabeth Warren informing President Joe Biden of a supposed legislative proposal centering on a cryptocurrency tax targeting whales.
The bogus letter to The White House dated April 21, 2024, detailed the imposition of a 1% wealth tax for crypto holdings exceeding $500,000, which covered individuals and institutions. It also required the said parties to report crypto holdings exceeding $1,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) so that the agency could monitor and impose the necessary tax compliance procedures in the sector.
At a glance, the letter looked nothing out of the ordinary since it involved Warren who was infamous for her tirades and misinformation against the crypto industry. However, a closer examination of the document revealed a misspelling of the senator’s name. Any reference or copy of the letter or proposal in question was missing from the politician’s official website, too. For short, it was an elaborate hoax to discredit her.
The reason of the perpetrator or group behind the fraudulent information is not clear at the moment. Several angles have been thrown around though, including an attempt to derail Warren’s re-election, a clickbait from the primary source for clout, a member of the crypto community clapping back at her, or just some disgruntled person with a personal vendetta on the politician.
The Massachusetts Senatorial Race
Warren is currently gearing up for re-election in the State of Massachusetts against popular crypto lawyer John Deaton. Despite holding the same seat since 2013, the senator may be in for a tough competition this time due to her opponent’s solid support from the crypto community.
Based on his filing, Deaton’s campaign enjoys the financial backing of key players in the digital assets space, including Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Gemini’s Winklevoss twins, Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell, and SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, among others.
Deaton’s rallying cry revolves around Warren’s failure to make a positive change for her constituents and the Senate during her more-than-a-decade tenure as a senator.
“Washington, D.C. is broken, and in more than a decade in office, Elizabeth Warren has done nothing to fix it—in fact, she’s become a big part of the problem,” said Deaton on his official campaign website.