U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has written an open letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary-elect Donald Trump urging him to evaluate stricter regulation and enforcement actions for digital assets if he takes office.
In an open letter on January 12, Warren asked Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent whether the Treasury should have more authority to sanction the cryptocurrency sector.
Warren, who will soon become the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, asked whether “AML/CFT and sanctions programs should include risk-based provisions reasonably designed to prevent money laundering or terrorist financing involving digital assets.” I wrote it.
According to Warren, malicious actors use cryptocurrencies to finance criminal activities such as money laundering and sanctions evasion, as well as activities such as North Korea’s nuclear program and ransomware attacks.
“Bad actors are using cryptocurrencies to enable money laundering, sanctions evasion, and to finance major national security threats, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s nuclear program, China’s sales of weapons components to sanctioned countries, and ransomware attacks. We are using it more and more. “Warren said.
She also asked Bessent whether the department’s authority on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing should include secondary sanctions tools that could “separate fintech and cryptocurrency operators from their relationship with the United States.”
Warren wrote a 31-page letter to her Treasury Secretary nominee listing dozens of questions she wants answered at her Jan. 16 confirmation hearing. source: elizabeth warren
Warren also questioned whether the Office of Foreign Assets Control should have jurisdiction over stablecoins and whether Congress should expand the Treasury Department’s Bank Secrecy Act authority to include foreign companies with ties to U.S. markets and customers. .
The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions to maintain operating records and submit reports to the U.S. Treasury.
Under current regulations, U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges, wallet providers, and other service providers must comply with certain BSA requirements if they engage in activities such as trading, transferring, or storing digital assets.
Warren asked Bessent to be prepared to discuss these issues at her Jan. 16 confirmation hearing.
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Alexander Grieve, vice president of government affairs at cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm, said in a Jan. 13 post to
“They wore masks events of war Warren should advocate for significant expansion of AML regulation for neutral encryption technology providers,” he said.
“As an opening salvo from a ranked member, this is a very powerful one. “I expect Senator Warren to be very active in the minority,” Grieve added.
source: Alexander Grieve
Senator Warren has been actively calling for strict regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.
She introduced the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022 and 2023, shaking up the cryptocurrency industry under the existing AML and CTF frameworks.
The bill was criticized by the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a U.S.-based cryptocurrency advocacy group, and 80 former military and national security officials. They said the bill could hinder law enforcement and raise national security concerns by driving the digital asset industry overseas.
Warren’s open letter was delivered less than a week before President Trump’s inauguration on January 20th. President Trump is expected to follow through on the cryptocurrency-friendly promises he made during last year’s presidential campaign.
Hundreds of pro-crypto candidates have also won seats in Congress, and industry leaders have suggested that the U.S. government could become the most cryptocurrency-friendly government in history.
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