Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) have introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen the authority of the U.S. Secret Service in investigating crypto-related criminal activity.
According to a joint press release, the Combating Money Laundering in Cyber Crime Act aims to update existing laws with a view to authorizing the Secret Service to “investigate new forms of criminal activity involving digital assets.”
Senator Cortez Masto says the use of crypto assets to finance criminal activities “poses a direct threat to the security” of the US.
While the Secret Service is known for protecting America’s national leaders, the agency is also tasked with protecting the country’s financial and payment systems from criminal exploitation.
The press release says it is necessary to update the current legislation.
“The Secret Service investigates a variety of cybercrimes that could threaten our national security. However, these cybercrimes can be committed by companies without a license to transfer funds outside the jurisdiction of the Secret Service.
The Combating Money Laundering in Cyber Crime Act provides much-needed updates to U.S. law to ensure that the Secret Service has full authority to combat these new forms of cybercrime committed by unlicensed and non-traditional financial institutions. to investigate.”
Meanwhile, Reps. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wisconsin), Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), Gregory Meeks (D-New York), and Madeleine Dean (D-Philadelphia) have proposed a similar bill in the House.
Last year, Senator Cortez Masto joined other lawmakers in co-sponsoring Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Massachusetts) Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2023, which aims to bring the crypto industry into compliance with the same money laundering rules that apply to the traditional Financial system.
The bill, currently stuck in its introductory phase, was heavily criticized by crypto stakeholders over fears that it would effectively ban digital assets by hindering activities such as staking and mining.
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Featured image: Shutterstock/kikk/Natalia Siiatovskaia