On March 23, the world watched as United States lawmakers questioned TikTok CEO Shou Chew at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing in Washington. In the hearing, lawmakers grilled the CEO over suspicions that the Chinese government is gathering user data through the app.
The intensity of the exchanges went viral online, with many believing that a ban — exemplified in the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act recently introduced in the United States Senate — may be imminent.
While the platform is not a crypto-native app, it’s used by many crypto community members to access crypto-related content. This means a ban on TikTok may have several implications for the crypto space.
Effects that ‘cannot be ignored’
U.S.-based think tank Coin Center believes that the RESTRICT act has a similar precept to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which allowed the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to prohibit U.S. citizens from transacting with sanctioned entities.
According to Coin Center, the potential effects on the crypto space cannot be ignored as the bill “creates blanket authority, with few checks, to ban just about anything linked to a ‘foreign adversary.’”
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Austin Federa, the head of strategy at Solana Foundation, said that the current rhetoric should worry U.S. citizens:
The TikTok ban rhetoric should worry everyone in crypto in the US — not because of TikTok itself, but because of what it could mean for the ability to publish and distribute software some politicians don’t like, which is protected under the first amendment.
— Austin Federa | ️ (@Austin_Federa) March 31, 2023
Bitcoin YouTuber CryptoWendyO also thinks the bill is not about TikTok but about going after the crypto space itself. “Yes, your bitcoin, crypto and NFTs. Banning them is the goal,” she wrote on Twitter.
While some are concerned about the act being used to ban crypto directly, those working to spread the word about various crypto projects also expressed concerns over a potential ban on the social media platform.
Implications for crypto
While TikTok was initially dominated by teenagers mimicking trending dances, the content within the app quickly branched out to various niches, including crypto. One of the earliest notable crossovers between crypto and TikTok can be traced…
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