The Biden administration on Thursday cited virtual currency practices that provide anonymity to customers as a money-laundering concern, amid a massive effort to crack down on crypto abuse in the wake of Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel. I suggested that it be certified.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said the rule identifies international virtual currency mixing (the practice of anonymizing virtual currency by mixing it with other funds) as a major money laundering concern. It stated that financial institutions will be required to report transactions related to virtual currency mixing.
“Today’s action underscores Treasury’s efforts to combat the misuse of convertible virtual currency mixes by a wide range of illicit actors, including nation-state-affiliated cyber attackers, cyber criminals, and terrorist groups,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. It is something that we will do.”
The Treasury Department also announced new sanctions against Hamas on Wednesday, targeting several members of the armed group, a top commander, a Qatar-based financial intermediary, and a Gaza-based cryptocurrency exchange.
“More broadly, Treasury is actively combating abuse of all aspects of the CVC ecosystem by terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” Adeyemo added.
After Hamas launched a complex series of attacks from the Gaza Strip earlier this month, surprising the Israeli military, the Wall Street Journal reported that Palestinian militants have received about $41 million in cryptocurrencies over the past two years. It was reported that.
The newspaper said another Gaza-based militant group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, received as much as $93 million in virtual currency.
U.S. regulators have been quick to crack down on perceived sources of funding.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement: “The U.S. Treasury has a long history of effectively interfering with the financing of terrorism, and we will not hesitate to use our tools against Hamas.”
More than 100 members of Congress sent a letter to the Biden administration on Tuesday, requesting information about the role cryptocurrencies played in funding recent Hamas attacks and the administration’s plans to address the issue.
“Congress and the Administration must take strong action to thoroughly address the illicit financial risks of cryptocurrencies before they are used to fund new tragedies,” the lawmakers wrote in Tuesday’s letter. mentioned in.
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