Mr. Mnuchin hits his ATH in crypto social volume

This insight is covering a social trends snapshot from Tuesday July 16th 10:00 am UTC

U.S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity:

This is indeed a national security issue. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity like cyber crime, tax evasion, extortion, ransomware, illicit drugs, and human trafficking,

Last time Mnuchin popped up on crypto radars was January 2018, when he said he does not see bitcoin and its competitors as a threat to financial stability, though he does have other concerns:

Crowd reactions:

• Mnuchin for longs
• it's mind boggling to me that the best barb the Mnuchin has is that Bitcoin is based on thin air - makes people wonder what backs money generally. spoiler: doesn't end well for USD - causes dissonance. "if BTC is unbacked, why is it worth something? what am I not getting?"
• Mnuchin Thinks Bitcoin is a Store of Value
• Mnuchin Crypto Speech Was Total Validation of Bitcoin
• Massively bullish today from Mnuchin....buy and hold btc thru legitimate exchange and u are golden.
• Mnuchin repeats and stands behind Trump's BS ("Bitcoin value based on thin air", …) Talking again and again about criminal use, and so on. To me this is just US wanting to kill Bitcoin
• Why people think Mnuchin speach was bullish and decrease a probability of btc ban in US?
• Keep in mind this space has also evolved significantly since 2017. Over the past week Mnuchin Powell and Trump has commented on bitcoin and crypto. First step of adoption is awareness. Second step is interest. I believe we’re transitioning to step 2 this year.

And this is Mr. Mnuchin's ATH in crypto social buzz: