US Treasury Official Asks Congress to Provide Tools to Fight Crypto Illicit Finance
The US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Adewale O. Adeyemo, has called on Congress to take action in providing the government with the necessary tools to combat illicit financial activities related to cryptocurrencies.
This comes in light of reported attempts by terrorist groups to exploit virtual currencies in recent years, as stated in Adeyemo’s written testimony for the upcoming Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing on Tuesday.
He highlighted the case of al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorist organizations using social media to gather cryptocurrency donations, and emphasized that the agency’s main issue is the difficulty in identifying and tracking bad actors who use virtual currencies to move funds.
While the agency’s efforts in targeting terrorist financing through traditional financial systems have been effective, it has also pushed these groups towards utilizing virtual assets.
