The cryptocurrency exchange, Bittrex has been imposed with a civil money penalty totaling $29 million by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The action is also a part of a global settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is looking for public feedback on a draft report on stablecoin technologies and related security concerns in an effort to better understand the digital assets industry. […]

The Department of the Treasury is seeking public input on carrying out its mandate in the White House’s executive order (EO) to ensure the responsible development of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies. […]

New Senate legislation unveiled today would retain at least for now the status quo on current Federal oversight of some cryptocurrency trading, but also would set the stage for a much broader examination of how and whether the Federal government should create regulatory structures for a wider range of digital assets that includes cryptocurrency. […]

Experts from the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology sectors said today they are watching with deep interest for the outcomes of a Biden administration executive order issued in March on the risks and benefits of digital assets in order to gauge the whether the Federal government and Congress will undertake meaningful regulatory changes that would benefit the sectors. […]

Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., have introduced a bill that aims to better coordinate Federal research and development (R&D) efforts on distributed ledger technologies (DLT), including the more commonly known blockchain technology. […]

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said during an Axios virtual event today that she is confident her bipartisan cryptocurrency legislation with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., will allow members of Congress to find “common ground” and a better understanding of digital assets. […]

A bipartisan bill introduced in the House this week aims to increase oversight and regulatory clarity of the growing cryptocurrency market, and provide the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with oversight authority of the market. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the U.S. Treasury Department issued a joint cybersecurity advisory (CSA) on April 18 warning of North Korean state-sponsored actors targeting attacks on crypto and blockchain technology providers. […]

Treasury

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said this week that “the time is now” to start proposing legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies, as digital assets only continue to grow in popularity in the United States. […]

White House flag at half mast
Blockchain link

Blockchain technologies face challenges, but a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) offers a range of policy recommendations that could help enhance the benefits and mitigate challenges posed by the use of those technologies.  […]

While Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs fear cryptocurrency could be used to help Russia evade economic sanctions, witnesses at a hearing on March 17 reminded lawmakers how crypto is being used for good, providing over $55 million to Ukraine for much needed humanitarian aid and supplies. […]

FBI

The FBI announced the launch of its Virtual Assets Unit (VAU), a new unit designed to be able to go after criminals looking to use cryptocurrency to aid in their crimes, the FBI announced March 15. […]

White House flag at half mast

President Biden today issued an executive order that takes a broad swing at addressing risks and benefits of digital assets – including cryptocurrencies – and their underlying technologies and encourages Federal regulators to provide oversight of those assets to guard against systemic financial risks that they might impose. […]

Several senators asked the Treasury Department this week for an update on the agency’s ability to enforce cryptocurrency sanctions against Russia and others in light of concerns that Russia will increase its use of cryptocurrency in the face of a wide-ranging financial sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine. […]

Blockchain link

The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that the founder of an alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform, which at one time had a peak market of $3.4 billion, has been indicted by a San Diego Federal grand jury, according to a Feb. 25 release. […]

Proving that there is no substitute for good timing, TaxBit – a provider of automated tax and accounting services for virtual currencies – opened up its new Washington office earlier this month amid growing policy and legislative action that may end up wrapping cryptocurrencies more tightly into “traditional” economic models. […]

Just over a week after announcing the agency’s largest-ever financial seizure – $3.6 billion in Bitcoin – Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said today that Eun Young Choi will serve as the first director of the Department of Justice’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). […]

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig told Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., in late December that the IRS needs more money and changes to the tax code to better prevent and prosecute criminal uses of cryptocurrency, which has emerged in recent years as a favored medium of exchange involving ransomware and other cyber attacks. […]

Federal law enforcement seized more than $3.6 billion in stolen cryptocurrency directly linked to the 2016 hack of virtual currency exchange Bitfinex, and have arrested a husband and wife from New York allegedly connected to the stolen bitcoins.     […]

quantum computing chip ai -min

The White House on Dec. 6 released the first-ever United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, which among other steps aims to utilize the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) newly established National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to hold corrupt actors accountable. […]

Senators Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced bipartisan legislation that would mandate the Department of Treasury and other Federal entities to review the use and mining of cryptocurrencies globally, and submit a detailed report on the issue to multiple congressional committees. […]

cybersecurity

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said today the Department of Justice (DoJ) is launching two new initiatives to combat cyber threats, including the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, and a civil cyber fraud initiative that will fine Federal contractors who don’t follow required cybersecurity standards. […]

Categories