A member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is allegedly trying to stop illegal activity by calling for an end to anonymous crypto transactions.
A new report from Reuters says that CFTC commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero says that the government and business need to have tighter control over digital assets to reduce risks to national security.
Romero said at a City Week meeting in London that cybercriminals are now using crypto to pay for their crimes.
Romero says,
“Fraud is a hallmark of digital asset markets, the human toll of which may be overlooked. It’s essential for governments and particularly the industry to address that which makes crypto so attractive to illicit finance, and that is the allure of anonymity.”
Reuters reports that the US recently banned a service called “currency mixer” Tornado Cash, which takes money from different sources, mixes it up, and then redistributes it to make it harder to track.
Reuters says that the US Congress is thinking about making new rules to deal with the issue of anonymity in digital assets.
Romero says,
“It’s possible for all crypto companies to distance themselves from mixers and anonymity enhancing technology while still providing customers financial privacy.”
Reuters says that the Financial Stability Board (FSB) is also working on final global suggestions for how crypto should be regulated. These recommendations will be released “soon.”
When it comes to money laundering, the old banking system is still in the lead. A report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says that every year, more than a trillion dollars are illegally moved through the standard banking system.
Forbes did some research and found that big banks like Capital One and Deutsche Bank will have to pay a total of $2.7 billion in fines for breaking anti-money laundering laws in 2021. In January, Chainalysis released a study saying that less than 1% of all crypto transactions in 2021 would be used to launder money.
