US Senator Elizabeth Warren pushes for stronger crypto regulations

Senator Elizabeth Warren is once again spearheading an initiative to broaden anti-money laundering laws to cover a range of participants in the cryptocurrency industry.

This includes blockchain network participants, validators, digital asset wallet providers, and miners, among others. The proposed legislation will provide regulators with the tools to curtail the flow of crypto to criminal elements such as drug traffickers and nations such as North Korea.

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing on crypto guardrails on Tuesday, Warren claimed that anti-money laundering rules have failed to apply adequately to crypto firms.

The bill, which Senator Warren will introduce with Senator Roger Marshall, would also forbid banks and other financial institutions from transacting with digital asset mixers that mask public blockchain transactions.

If passed in its previous form, the legislation would require the Treasury Department to perform anti-money laundering compliance assessments for money service businesses, which are the registration that large US crypto companies fall under.

Additionally, it would expand anti-money laundering reporting requirements to include US persons who transact in $10,000 or more in digital assets using an offshore account.

Senator Warren cited statistics on the increasing use of crypto for illicit activities to justify more rigorous anti-money laundering requirements for digital assets.

In the last year alone, she claimed, drug traffickers, North Korean hackers, and ransomware attackers have used crypto to the tune of over a billion dollars, $1.7 billion, and almost $500 million, respectively.

The reintroduction of the bill will be eagerly watched by stakeholders in the cryptocurrency industry, as it could have significant implications for compliance and regulatory requirements.