Elizabeth Warren Says Crypto Needs To Follow Anti-Money Laundering Laws, Citing New Government Report
US Senator Elizabeth Warren is once again calling for an anti-crypto crackdown amid a new government report suggesting that certain nations are using digital assets to avoid sanctions.
Warren (D-Massachusetts), a longtime crypto critic, tells her 6.8 million followers on the social media platform X that a U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (USGAO) report shows why her bill cracking down on digital assets is necessary.
“A new USGAO report confirms that rogue nations are using crypto to dodge sanctions and undermine our national security. It’s time for crypto to follow the same anti-money laundering rules as everyone else. I’ve got a bill to make it happen.”
Among the report’s findings is that since crypto transactions are recorded on a public ledger, law enforcement may have an advantage in tracking sanctions violators.
“Digital assets like Bitcoin and other virtual currencies pose risks to implementing and enforcing U.S. sanctions, but several factors partially mitigate these risks. A key feature of digital assets is that they enable users to rapidly transfer value across countries’ borders.
Yet many digital assets are recorded on a public ledger, which may enable U.S. agencies and analytics firms to trace transactions and potentially identify illicit actors. However, digital asset owners also may use the anonymizing features of some digital assets or other techniques that obscure their identities in an attempt to evade sanctions.”
The report also finds that the implementation of “global anti-money-laundering standards” on cryptocurrencies could help prevent digital assets from being used to evade sanctions.
Warren’s X post received a community note calling attention to a U.S. Treasury Department National Money Laundering Risk Assessment report from 2022 that “states that fiat is the preferred currency for financial crimes.”
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Featured Image: Shutterstock/Yurchanka Siarhei/Natalia Siiatovskaia
