- The U.S. Treasury has sent a message to the crypto industry.
- Deputy Secretary Adeyemo raised concerns about crypto-funded terrorism.
- Adeyemo spoke at a public event in London.
The reported use of crypto in raising funds for terrorism purposes has irked multiple agencies in the U.S. government and, most recently, attracted the attention of the Treasury Department.
While speaking at a public event hosted by London’s Royal United Services Institute on October 27, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo underscored the rising popularity of crypto among terrorist groups and hinted that the Treasury would take action against industry players who enable anonymous transactions.
Terrorist Groups Turning to Crypto
In his speech, Adeyemo pointed out that bad actors have evolved in tandem with technology and are now using new tactics to evade U.S. government sanctions and raise funds to further brutality.
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According to Adeyemo, terrorists partly shifted from the traditional banking system in 2001 and turned to digital payment solutions, such as PayPal and Venmo, and are now onto cryptocurrencies, though not “the vast majority.”
“That evolution continues, and the next source of that is cryptocurrency,” Adeyemo said. “And we need this industry to work with us to make sure that we're preventing cryptocurrency from being used and abused by Hamas and these groups going forward.”
The Deputy Secretary further called out crypto-focused platforms that enable bad actors to evade authority by obfuscating transaction trails.
Crypto Mixer Tools on the Spotlight
Adeyemo noted that crypto mixers are a “great example” of technologies that look to innovate new ways of disguising the flow of funds.
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Notably, the Deputy Secretary reiterated that the U.S. Treasury would hold crypto mixers developers to account and ensure that they are taking sufficient steps “to prevent terrorists from being able to use these types of innovations in ways that allowed them to continue to do the types of horrific things that we saw Hamas do.”
Adeyemo also noted that the U.S. government expects cooperation from all players in the crypto industry in its war against crypto-funded terrorism.
According to him, if crypto industry players don’t act to curb illicit financial flows, the U.S. government and its partners will.
Read why U.S. lawmakers want the DOJ to take action against Binance:
U.S. Lawmakers Push for “Swift” DOJ Action Against Binance
Stay updated on what U.S. lawmakers want President Biden to do about crypto-funded terrorism:
U.S. Lawmakers Press Biden to Combat Crypto-Funded Terrorism
