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Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy came down hard on SEC chair Gary Gensler and other “three letter agencies” during the recent Republican presidential debate, claiming that regulators had failed to keep up with crypto.

During the 4th Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle on Dec. 7, Ramaswamy said it was “nothing short of embarrassing” that Gensler couldn’t admit before Congress that Ethereum’s native currency Ether (ETH), should be viewed as a commodity.

The question directed at Ramaswamy mentioned the recent guilty plea of Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and asked how his crypto-friendly policies would prevent fraudsters from getting off the hook.

“Fraudsters, criminals, and terrorists have been defrauding people for a long time,” Ramaswamy said in response. “Our regulations need to catch up with the current moment.”

“The fact that SBF was able to do what he did FTX shows that whatever they have is the current framework isn’t working.”

Later in the debate, Ramaswamy made the claim that the Jan. 6 Capitol riots were an “inside job” and that the great replacement theory was a key part of the Democratic Party platform.

Related: House Committee passes bill to ‘preserve U.S. leadership’ in blockchain

Following Ramaswamy, fellow pro-crypto candidate Ron De Santis added his voice to the crypto issue, reiterating he firmly opposes the implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

“One of the dangers we’re gonna face, which Biden wants, is a central bank digital currency. They want to get rid of cash and crypto and they will absolutely regulate your purchases,” De Santis said.

“On day one as president, we take the idea of CBDCs and throw it in the trash can. It’ll be dead on arrival.”

Ramaswamy is one of a few presidential candidates who have made crypto a central theme of their campaign. Notably, he is the only Republican presidential candidate to unveil a crypto policy framework.

Former Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy has made crypto a cornerstone of his campaign, going as far as saying that he would back the U.S. Dollar with Bitcoin if elected president.

Outside of the presidential race, crypto has become a hot-button issue in the United States recently, with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren declaring a “war on crypto” as part of her senate re-election campaign.

Magazine: Lawmakers’ fear and doubt drives proposed crypto regulations in US