The Biden administration is urging Congress to consider the biggest revisions to the Treasury’s sanctions authority since 2001.
With this action, the usage of digital assets for financial transactions in areas affected by terrorism will be more strictly regulated. Wally Adeyemo, the U.S trade representative, reportedly stated that the implementation of a “secondary sanctions regime” was imperative, as reported by Bloomberg.”
Because they “also put at risk any firm that continues to do business with a sanctioned target,” he said, such sanctions influence an individual or company operating within the U.S financial system.
The Treasury “provided Congress with common-sense recommendations to expand our authorities and broaden our tools and resources to go after illicit actors in the digital asset space,” Adeyemo added.
U.S authorities have increased their monitoring of the cryptocurrency market in recent months and are calling for more aggressive steps to prevent terrorists from using cryptocurrencies.
In a letter to the Justice Department last month, U.S Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative French Hill requested that the department “carefully evaluate the extent to which Binance and Tether provide material assistance and resources to support terrorism.”
Senators from the United States, led by Elizabeth Warren, also think cryptocurrencies are still useful for nonprofits looking to raise money. They requested information from the administration regarding a strategy to stop cryptocurrency from being used to fund terrorism.
Analysts at Chainalysis, however, questioned the information in some publications regarding the financing of terrorists using cryptocurrencies. These numbers might be significantly inflated. In the company’s estimation, only $450,000 of the $82 million that was previously disclosed to the public may be directly linked to money intended to support terrorist activities.
