<p>Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), who leads the House Financial Services Committee, is gathering Democratic House members in a new working group focused on cryptocurrencies. </p> <p>Waters briefly joined the Fintech Task Force in a virtual <a href="https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=407953">hearing</a> today on the subject of central bank digital currencies. She took the occasion to echo concerns over the growth of cryptocurrencies before saying:</p> <blockquote> <p>"As cryptocurrencies grow exponentially, I've organized a working group of Democratic members to engage with regulators and experts to do a deep dive on this poorly understood and minimally regulated industry."</p> </blockquote> <p>Waters has long been critical of cryptocurrencies, but she joins growing ranks of senior Democratic Party leaders to speak critically on the subject in recent weeks, especially since ransomware <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/107496/us-official-says-majority-of-bitcoin-paid-by-colonial-pipeline-after-ransomware-attack-has-been-recovered">shut down the Colonial Pipeline</a> last month. </p> <p>At a similarly CBDC-focused hearing before the Senate Economic Policy Committee last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/107983/senator-elizabeth-warren-attacks-cryptocurrency-over-ransomware-energy-use">lambasted cryptocurrencies</a> and, especially, the energy use of bitcoin mining.</p> <p>The Biden administration has likewise <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/108351/bidens-white-house-commits-g7-to-fight-against-ransomware">highlighted ransomware</a> as a national security concern. </p>