Biden Administration Seeks More Tools to Combat Illicit Crypto Use, Says Treasury Official United States Deputy Secretary of the
Treasury Wally Adeyemo said Tuesday at the annual
meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association that the
Biden administration is seeking new tools from Congress to
strengthen efforts against the illicit use of cryptocurrencies, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Citing the
Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Adeyemo stated that it has brought an
“increased focus on the illicit financial use of digital assets.” He stressed:
There are places where we think Congress needs to act … We’re going to work with Congress to get more tools. The Treasury official also emphasized that the Treasury Department will maintain
its ongoing efforts to take action and will collaborate with legislators while encouraging the cryptocurrency industry to pursue responsible innovation.
Several news outlets recently reported
that Hamas raised millions of dollars in crypto. However, blockchain data analytics firm Elliptic subsequently clarified that
these media reports misrepresented its data, and there is actually no evidence
that Hamas has received large volumes of crypto funds. Adeyemo also recently said that
“the use of crypto is not the vast majority of the ways that these groups are funded.”
