This afternoon’s congressional hearing aimed at uncovering the role of cryptocurrencies in illicit finance could be influential as the Republican-led bill shifts focus to combating money laundering.
A panel focused on digital assets within the House Financial Services Committee will convene this afternoon for a hearing titled “Cryptocurrency Crime in Context Part ll: Examining Approaches to Combating Illegal Activities.” The subcommittee, led by Arkansas Republican French Hill, likely to The frequency with which terrorist groups use cryptocurrencies to finance their operations discusses the regulatory gap in anti-money laundering requirements for cryptocurrency companies compared to traditional finance.
According to prepared testimony, lawmakers will hear from policy and legal experts from Circle, Coinbase, TRM Labs and others about how legislation should be structured to track malicious actors, how blockchains can be tracked and how elements of decentralized finance are applied. I plan to talk about it. .
The hearing took place as both Democrats and Republicans discussed AML provisions and legislation. The full House Financial Services Committee introduced two bills last summer, one of which would take a comprehensive approach to regulating cryptocurrencies. As of last month, Rep. Hill said AML was included in the larger bill. supply And he has signaled that he is willing to listen to Democrats’ ideas as well.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., also said the House should take a closer look at AML regulations for cryptocurrencies. punchbowl news In December.
On the other side, Senate Democrats are preparing legislation to fight money laundering, including a bill from Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts that would expand AML liability to digital asset service providers, miners, verifiers and others. meantime Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown said he was discussing legislation targeting the use of digital assets for money laundering. Politico.
The hearing begins at 2:00 PM ET and will be streamed live on the Commission’s website.
exaggerated
The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing yesterday to review the work of the U.S. Treasury Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Some lawmakers have looked into cryptocurrencies.
Testifying at the hearing, Brian Nelson, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, was asked about an October report in the Wall Street Journal that found Hamas used millions of dollars worth of funds along with other armed groups. Cryptocurrency as a financial tool Ahead of the Israeli attack, the data in the article comes from Elliptic, a blockchain forensics company. misrepresented From pieces.
Nelson confirmed that the numbers in the article were exaggerated. When asked a question As for how much cryptocurrency Hamas has used, Nelson said Republican Majority Leader Tom Emmer doesn’t expect the figure to be very high.
“To be clear, Hamas is using a relatively small amount of cryptocurrency compared to what has been widely reported. Is that correct?” Emma said.
“That’s our assessment,” Nelson said.
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