The goal of the U.S. Treasury’s increased attempts to strengthen its control over overseas crypto exchanges is to improve oversight of these platforms
Deputy Secretary of State Adewale O. Adeyemo, addressing ahead to a Senate hearing, underscored the persistent threat posed by illicit actors aiming to disguise identities and move assets through digital currencies.
Adeyemo emphasized worries about terrorist groups and countries under U.S. sanctions, such as North Korea and Russia, using crypto exchange.
“The more effective our targeting has been, the more reason there is for these terrorist groups to look into virtual assets. And, to be clear, it’s not only terrorist groups, but state actors like the DPRK and Russia as well.”Adewale O. Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury
US Treasury’s Prosecution Push
He pushed for secondary sanctions to be approved, which would have targeted foreign providers of digital assets that help facilitate illegal activities.
“While we continue to assess that terrorists prefer to use traditional financial products and services, we fear that without Congressional action to provide us with the necessary tools, the use of virtual assets by these actors will only grow.”Adewale O. Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury
Additionally, the US Treasury Department called for the prosecution of foreign crypto currency platforms whose activities jeopardize national security in the United States by taking advantage of the nation’s financial system.
This action is a result of criminal elements’ rising interest in crypto currency, which has prompted governments all around the world to take action to stop these illegal operations. Following Wall Street Journal reports in October 2023 that showed Palestinian extremists had obtained large amounts of digital assets, US senators acted quickly to demand that the Justice Department take action, highlighting issues with Binance and Tether in particular.
Experts at Chainalysis, however, issued a warning against mistakenly linking crypto exchange linked to terrorism to monies received from third parties and transferred through different payment services. Elliptic refuted allegations that terrorist organizations had oversold their use of crypto exchange finance, claiming that information on Hamas’ crypto exchange holdings, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, was inflated and needed closer examination.
