Biden Administration Targets Crypto As Part Of Anti-Corruption Strategy
Biden Administration is cracking down on the crypto industry, as a part of a five-pillar plan to clear out government corruption.
The White House recently released a 38-page report providing details on new efforts to combat state and financial corruption. It consists of five strategic pillars, one of which bears mention of a new “National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team”.
The Biden Administration released the document through a statement from the White House’s website earlier this week. According to the statement, the strategy emphasizes on reducing “the ability of corrupt actors to use the U.S. and international financial systems to hide assets and launder the proceeds of corrupt acts.”
Pillar III, titled “Holding Corrupt Actors Accountable,” explains that the DOJ will fight the use of cryptocurrencies for illicit finance through a new, dedicated task force:
“DOJ will utilize a newly established task force, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, to focus specifically on complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of cryptocurrency, particularly crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and money laundering infrastructure actors.”
Money laundering is an on-going and long term concern among regulators regarding cryptocurrencies – especially stablecoins. From Gary Gensler to Jerome Powell, fiat-pegged digital assets are perceived as unregulated avenues for global payment that can scale rapidly across illegal payment networks, due to their high liquidity.
Crypto is also mentioned in pillar II titled “Curbing Illicit Finance” re-states the United States’. It goes into efforts to review risks posed by digital assets, and to cooperate with other countries to develop a central bank digital currency.
While recognizing the efficiencies and conveniences created by the technology, it names numerous illicit activities for which crypto is purportedly used, including narcotics trafficking and sanctions evasion.
Cryptocurrencies are also an increasingly popular tool for ransomware attacks. The non-reversible nature of crypto transactions leaves victims with no recourse to get their money back from cybercriminals that extort them for money.
