To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs debated the benefits and drawbacks of cryptocurrencies. In a hearing titled "Cryptocurrencies: What are they good for?," Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH) argued that cryptocurrencies: (i) are "not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States"; (ii) put at risk "Americans' hard-earned money"; (iii) create a shadow financial system that lacks oversight, regulation and limits; (iv) are not transparent or democratic as claimed by proponents but rather a "shady" and "diffuse network"; and (v) will enable traditional