Recently, headlines have focused on regulatory concerns about the lack of investor protection in the cryptocurrency market, which has grown to more than $ 2 trillion, and potential risks to financial stability.
US President Joe Biden’s national security agencies have encountered high-profile cases of cryptocurrency playing a role in ransomware attacks, intellectual property espionage, violations of sanctions, bribery of government officials and tax evasion.
According to a recent report from the Financial Crime Network, reports of suspicious ransom-related activity in the first half of 2021, a 30% increase over the entire year 2020, indicate that ransomware represents an increasing threat to the US financial system. sector. companies and the public
The Biden administration is reviewing an order from the federal agency to review and recommend relevant areas of the crypto industry related to national security, economic innovation and financial regulation. The initiative also aims to coordinate agency work with digital currencies in the executive government, with the White House’s first crypto king as the most important.
International consortium of investigative journalists “Pandora’s papers”
An international consortium of investigative journalists published The Pandora Papers, which leaked nearly 12 million documents from law firms and other organizations around the world and identified the owners of 29,000 previously unknown offshore companies hiding up to $ 32 trillion in assets worldwide from taxes or regulations. supervision. in tax havens.
These companies are owned by celebrities, political leaders and criminals from over 200 countries. The leak has already led to an investigation into corruption and tax evasion involving several authorities from around the world.
Meanwhile, a report from the World Economic Forum explains how blockchain technology can help break down government corruption.
RELATED: CFTC Update: What Biden’s New Cryptocurrency Regulatory Agency Chooses
Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Treasury Department
In a first-of-its-kind case, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently targeted Suex, an OTC cryptocurrency broker, for its alleged role in laundering the proceeds of ransomware attacks. These efforts were part of an intergovernmental effort to combat ransomware and disrupt criminal networks and cryptocurrency exchanges that play a role in money laundering. The goal is to improve cyber security in the private sector and increase the number of incidents reported to the US government and ransom. This includes both the Treasury and law enforcement agencies under the AML / CFT system, as digital currency is the primary means of facilitating ransom payments and related money laundering activities.
Following this incident, OFAC issued an update report on the potential risk of payment facilitation sanctions for ransomware. The updated guidance highlights that the US government remains strongly reluctant to pay electronic ransom or ransom, and recognizes the importance of improving cybersecurity practices to prevent or curb such attacks.
About the topic: Compliance with fines for transactions in fiat and cryptocurrency is the same
OFAC also updated the guidance text, emphasizing the importance of informing and cooperating with relevant authorities and law enforcement agencies in the event of ransomware attacks to understand and combat ransomware attacks, attackers and victims, in order to achieve a voluntary self-disclosure credit in sanction status. links will be defined later. For more information, visit the Stop Ransomware Government website.
Given the financial risk of ransomware and money laundering associated with digital assets around the world, June G7 promised to work together as soon as possible to effectively and quickly address these growing risks by implementing and enforcing the FATF’s anti-money laundering standards for digital assets. assets and suppliers. … Virtual asset services.
