According to Cointelegraph: Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the US Treasury, has called upon Congress for more power to combat illicit activities involving cryptocurrencies. Despite existing authority to hold firms like Binance accountable, he emphasizes the need for better laws and additional support to effectively address these challenges.
This request was made in his prepared testimony for a congressional hearing on terrorism and cryptocurrency crimes, scheduled for February 14th, 2024. His statement coincides with heightened attention from lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren pushing for her Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act (DAAMLA). Introduced in July 2023, the act aims to curtail illicit use of digital assets for money laundering and financing terrorism.
Nelson's call for action comes after the Treasury Department's 2024 National Risk Assessments on Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing. These assessments highlighted the threats and risks presented by the cryptocurrency sector to the US's illicit finance landscape, noting a growing trend of wrongdoers utilizing virtual assets.
The Treasury has proposed new sanctions tools and demanded increased supervision of stablecoins to tackle culprits in the crypto sector. It already has measures to deal with those flouting the Bank Secrecy Act, which sets specific requirements for financial institutions to prevent and detect financial crimes.
On February 15th, the House Financial Services Committee will conduct a hearing specifically addressing cryptocurrency and illicit activities.