Not long ago, the discussions in the US Congressraised serious questions about the security of blockchain and its potential for abuse by cybercriminals .In the same vein, there were statements by many prominent officials, including President Trump, who spoke about the dangers inherent in blockchain platforms. In both cases, one thing became clear: the need for the creation of a new protection law. Congress has passed a bill, which is now awaiting the approval of the Senate and the signature of the President, to study techniques for combating crime related to the cryptocurrency sector.
The bill directs the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to begin the process of studying the most modern ways to best utilize available blockchain-related technologies to help fight crime. This move is actually very beneficial for the cryptocurrency industry, since many law enforcement agencies are happy with the transparency that the Bitcoin blockchain provides, for example, and are already using some of the tricks of the trade to further their investigative efforts.
The bill was introduced by Anthony Gonzalez in Ohio. As he stated:
“The bill ensures that we use the best technology available to find and stop money laundering, which makes all of these crimes not only possible, but financially profitable for cartels, traffickers and terrorists.”
The bill is titled “Promoting Innovation to Strengthen Law Enforcement Legislation.”.
The bill requires FinCEN Director Kenneth Blanco to review and study all emerging technologies, including blockchain, to determine their significance in fighting crime. As it states:
“The Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) will conduct a study on whether AI, digital identity technologies, blockchain technologies, and other innovative technologies can be further leveraged to make FinCEN’s data analysis more effective and efficient.”
Additionally, Blanco had testified before Congress, highlighting his casino initiatives and how he handled cryptocurrency payments, an obvious point where illicit profits can enter the public domain:
“I encourage casinos to carefully review both documents on the FinCEN website to see how we treat this industry and its interactions with others in the financial sector. Casinos should file SARs when they encounter suspicious CVC activity and any online event that affects, facilitates, or conducts transactions. We know that casinos are targets for criminal activities that have access to cyberspace, such as ransomware attacks and email fraud .”
The industry response has been positive. Gerard Dache, executive director at the Government Blockchain Association, noted that it was time to stop wasting time on outdated crime-fighting techniques. It was time to use modern tools to stay one step ahead of the enemy.
