US Lawmaker Urges Biden Administration to Develop ‘Robust Strategy’ to Prevent Crypto Use to Evade Sanctions – Regulation Bitcoin News

A U.S. lawmaker has urged the Biden administration to develop a “robust strategy” to prevent cryptocurrency from being used to evade sanctions. “Emerging technologies like cryptocurrency offer many positive applications like humanitarian relief, but the administration has not kept pace in ensuring this novel form of currency is not used to the detriment of U.S. national security,” he said.

Congressman McCaul Wants a ‘Robust Strategy’ to Prevent Crypto Use to Evade Sanctions

A senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), has made a number of efforts to prevent cryptocurrency’s use to evade U.S. sanctions. He issued a statement Thursday urging the Biden Administration to create a “robust strategy” to stop crypto from being used to circumvent sanctions.

“Emerging technologies like cryptocurrency offer many positive applications like humanitarian relief, but the administration has not kept pace in ensuring this novel form of currency is not used to the detriment of U.S. national security,” the congressman noted, elaborating:

Although it’s a positive first step to get rid of criminals, the government should develop an effective strategy to keep bad actors from using crypto to circumvent U.S. sanctions.

Following the sentence of Virgil Griffith, he made this statement. He was sentencing Griffith to five years imprisonment in federal prison. Griffith had helped North Korea evade U.S. Sanctions using cryptocurrency technology.

Rep. McCaul also sent a letter to President Joe Biden last month raising concerns about “the potential abuse of emerging technologies like cryptocurrency by Russia to evade sanctions.” He cited “an expected UN report on North Korea using stolen cryptocurrencies to fund its nuclear program.” He received no response from Biden.

The lawmaker then sent a similar letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines after her testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence regarding how her department will deal with cryptocurrency-related sanctions evasion.

McCaul joined Gregory Meeks, D-NY, as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to present the Russia Cryptocurrency Transparency Act. It received bipartisan support. The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill. This legislation will help “ensure the U.S. is taking the necessary steps to prevent these emerging technologies from being used to evade U.S. sanctions.”

Although some legislators are concerned about crypto being used to bypass sanctions, experts agree that it isn’t a good tool for evading them. A U.S. Treasury official said in March: “We don’t see that crypto could be used in a large-scale way to evade sanctions.” Nonetheless, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced a crypto sanctions bill that “would place sweeping restrictions on persons who build, operate, and use cryptocurrency networks even if they have no knowledge or intent to help evade sanctions.”

How do you feel about Rep. McCaul requesting a solid strategy to ensure that crypto is not used to bypass sanctions? Comment below to let us know your thoughts.

Kevin Helms

Kevin is a graduate of Austrian Economics. He discovered Bitcoin in 2011, and has been an advocate ever since. His main interests are in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects, cryptography, and intersections between economics, cryptography, and Cryptography.