U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall recently sponsored a bill titled “The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act.” The primary goal of the bill is to reduce the use of cryptocurrency for money laundering.
The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act will bring anti-money laundering regulations similar to those found in traditional finance to the crypto industry. As a result, crypto platforms and traditional financial institutions will be subject to the same anti-money laundering laws.
Once this bill is passed, a treasury bureau (the financial crimes enforcement network, FinCEN) will be able to enforce regulations on crypto platforms, including wallet providers and miners. Also, the approval of the bill means crypto platforms will be subject to the restrictions in the 1970 bank secrecy legislation, which include know-your-customer (KYC) procedures.
Warren and Marshall’s push comes just one day after Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, was charged with money laundering and other federal offenses. Bankman-Fried is accused of participating in a global scheme to deceive and defraud clients, investors, lenders, and the campaign financing system.
This bill aims to prevent fraudsters from using whatever method at their disposal to launder money through the crypto sector.
“I’ve been ringing the alarm bell in the Senate on the dangers of these digital asset loopholes, and I’m working in a bipartisan manner to pass common-sense crypto legislation to better safeguard U.S. national security,” Warren told CNN in an exclusive statement.
However, given the short time frame available, it is highly unlikely that the bill will be passed by the current Congress. The current congress meeting will continue until January 3, 2023. As a result, the bill’s co-sponsors would have to reintroduce it at the next U.S. Congress session for proper consideration.
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