The FBI today issued a public service announcement warning Americans to avoid using unregistered and non-Know Your Customer (KYC) cryptocurrency transfer services.
Just in: 🇺🇸 FBI warns Americans against using non-KYC #Bitcoin There are cryptocurrency remittance services, etc. pic.twitter.com/BkSuG6MiCE
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 25, 2024
The announcement, identified by alert number I-042524-PSA, urged Americans to engage only with registered money service businesses (MSBs) that comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.
Under US federal law, cryptocurrency remittance services must register as an MSB and comply with AML requirements (31 USC § 5330; 31 CFR §§ 1010; 1022). Failure to comply could result in financial chaos for law enforcement, especially if the funds are mixed with illegally obtained funds, the FBI said.
The warning stated that services that knowingly facilitate illegal transactions or violate federal law are subject to investigation by law enforcement and that individuals using such services may lose access to their funds during enforcement operations.
Just yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested the founder and CEO of Samourai Wallet, a popular privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet and mixer, and charged him with laundering “more than $100 million in criminal proceeds.” . The DOJ then worked with law enforcement in Portugal and Iceland to arrest one of the founders, seize Samourai’s web servers and domains, and issue a seizure warrant for its mobile apps on the Google Play Store.