The US government will take a more active role in taking action against actors who use cryptocurrencies for money laundering and other cybercrimes, according to a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the formation of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team at the Aspen Institute Cyber Summit on Wednesday.
The program is aimed at platforms “that assist criminals to launder or disguise their unlawful earnings.” In August, Monaco mentioned her office’s efforts against Helix, a Darknet-based Bitcoin (BTC) mixing service, but argued the US government should be doing more.
“We want to increase our capabilities to deconstruct the financial environment that allows these criminal actors to thrive and benefit from what they’re doing,” Monaco added. “We’ll do it by enlisting the help of our cyber experts, prosecutors, and money-laundering experts.”
She continued, “
“Cryptocurrency exchanges want to be the banks of the future. We need to make sure that folks can have confidence when they’re using these systems, and we need to make sure we’re poised to root out abuse that can take hold on them.”
Monaco has frequently played a key role in the United States’ reaction to large ransomware and cyberattacks involving cryptocurrency payments.
Following an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system in May, she was part of a task group that “discovered and reclaimed” millions of dollars in Bitcoin given to Russia-based DarkSide hackers.
In addition, the Deputy Attorney General proposed a civil cyber fraud program directed at government contractors that fail to report breaches and follow security rules.
