U.S. Treasury urges Congress to take action on cryptocurrency-related illicit finance

As the cryptocurrency industry develops and becomes mainstream, it has become one of the more innovative ways for terrorist groups to move resources, leading to increased regulatory scrutiny and calls for tighter controls on the sector.

In this context, U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury Adewale O. Adeyemo called on the U.S. Congress to provide the government with the “necessary tools” to counter illicit financing, terrorism, and sanctions evasion related to crypto assets. Testimony on April 9th.

Terrorist financing linked to cryptocurrency

In particular, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury told the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee that terrorist groups around the world, including al-Qaeda, have been attempting to leverage cryptocurrency assets for the past several years. Among representative examples.

“Five years ago, al Qaeda and related terrorist groups, primarily based in Syria, operated a Bitcoin (BTC) money laundering network using social media platforms to solicit cryptocurrency donations.”

Adeyemo recently reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force (IRGC-QF) transferred digital assets to Hamas in Gaza and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which then used cryptocurrencies to “solicit small donations,” prompting the Treasury to intervene.

The Treasury claims that while it has had some success in eradicating illicit finance from the digital asset ecosystem:

“As more terrorists, transnational criminals and rogue states turn to digital assets, we must build enforcement mechanisms to prevent these activities. That is why we have sent proposals to the Committee to strengthen our counter-terrorism financing authorities.”

To this end, he plans to enact three reforms: introducing a secondary sanctions tool for foreign cryptocurrency providers that facilitate illicit finance, modernizing and addressing gaps in existing authorities by expanding their scope, and addressing “jurisdictional risks for foreign cryptocurrency platforms.” I suggest.

Cryptocurrency regulatory measures

Meanwhile, newly introduced cryptocurrency-related regulations in the European Union (EU) stipulate a ban on cryptocurrency payments to hosted wallets using unidentified self-custodian cryptocurrency wallets as part of new anti-money laundering (AML) laws. there is. continent.

At the same time, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate who supports Bitcoin and opposes central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), has urged members of Congress to deprive Bitcoin of a “giant globalist banking monopoly.” He accused them of “being paid” to ban it. “They are making money through inflation.”

In fact, he was referring to support from both sides of the US political spectrum for legislation proposed by Senator Elizabeth Warren to strengthen regulation within the cryptocurrency industry. These include Republican Rep. Lindsay Graham, independent Rep. Angus King, and Democrat-turned-congressman Joe Manchin. independent.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has hired two private sector experts to support efforts to address the complexities of the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency sector and strengthen enforcement in the space, Finbold reported on February 28.

Ultimately, only time will tell whether the regulatory situation will resolve favorably or negatively for the growing cryptocurrency industry, or will end up somewhere in between, as exemplified by the ruling between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and blockchain companies. It will. ripple.

In other words, Analisa Torres, the presiding judge in the protracted legal battle, said that while Ripple’s sales of The ruling was made contrary to the SEC’s claim that it was satisfied. With securities.