• Infamous trader Jordan Belfort says crypto industry regulation would drive up mainstream adoption and accelerate crypto prices.
• Belfort berates Tether as a scam for hiking Bitcoin prices but maintains a bullish end-of-year outlook for cryptocurrencies.

Jordan Belfort, an infamous stockbroker or “The Wolf of Wall Street,” has called for “massive” crypto regulation. The American author also attacked the number one stablecoin, Tether, calling it a scam.

“The sooner that massive regulation comes into the market, the better it is for Bitcoin, stablecoins, and everything else,” said Belfort.

Additionally, he said that there is nothing to fear with regulators establishing oversight of the crypto market. To make his case, he pointed out the historical precedent of the 1980s junk bond market. Rather than die off, the market only soared as the regulatory regime tamed it. More so, he contended that regulatory action would fend off pump-and-dump scams associated with the asset class.

Everyone said, ‘Oh no, the regulators are coming in! [But ultimately] the market got much bigger, so I think it’s a good thing,

Notably, Belfort is not alone in his call for increased crypto regulation. US Senator Elizabeth Warren has asserted the need for additional oversight to rid the market of “snake oil salesmen.”

Read More: US Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls for speedy regulatory action on crypto

Tether and crypto regulation

Belfort commented on recent news of Tether executives being placed under DoJ investigation for bank fraud. He held on to his long-time criticism of the stablecoin, calling it a scam. He even went ahead to say he was “shocked” at the little legal action that had been taken so far.

Up until now, US authorities have been looking into Tether for market manipulation related to the 2017 cryptocurrencies rally. More recently, officials sought to find out if the stablecoin’s executives concealed from banks that their transactions involve crypto.

In an interview back in 2018, Belfort said that he had his suspicions of Tether being a “massive fraud.” Tether issuances are used to cause an inflationary effect on the price of Bitcoin, he argued. Some experts have drawn the same conclusions as Belfort. Others, however, have differed saying,

[…] issuance behavior can be explained as maintaining a decentralized system of exchange rate pegs and acting as a haven in the digital asset economy.

Furthermore, Belfort, a long-time self-proclaimed crypto bull, criticized the price targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum. The price forecasts are only used to fuel the hype and are detached from the crypto bull case, he pointed out. However, Belfort admitted to owning both assets.

“I think [Bitcoin] has a great chance of being looked at as digital gold,” Belfort said.

With that, he gave his price targets according to his market analysis. For Bitcoin, Belfort is anticipating an end-of-year price range of $45,000-$70,000, up from about $39,940 on Thursday. As for Ethereum, Belfort is looking at a range of $3,700-$4,500, up from about $2,300 on Thursday, according to our data.