FSC to Investigate Crypto Crimes at the Nov. 15th Hearing
- The FSC plans to investigate illegal activity within the crypto industry.
- The committee plans to assess the extent to which decentralized finance providers and cryptocurrency exchanges enforce anti-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering regulations.
Following the conclusion of Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, US regulators are concerned about the depth of illegal activities within the crypto industry. The US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee (FSC) has set a hearing for November 15th to investigate illegal activity within the crypto space.
The FSC said of the hearing:
To ensure that the digital asset ecosystem is not exploited by bad actors, it is critical that Congress understand the degree to which illicit activity exists, what tools are available to combat this activity, and explore any potential gaps to prevent and detect illicit activity.
Several prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneurs will be present at the hearing. The committee’s schedule indicates that Jonathan Levin, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Chainalysis, and Bill Hughes, senior counsel and director of global regulatory affairs at Consensys, will testify at the session. In addition, Jane Khodarkovsky, a human trafficking finance specialist, will testify alongside the two.
The session will be dominated by discussions of illegal activities, including money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The committee will also look into the extent to which decentralized finance providers and cryptocurrency exchanges enforce anti-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering regulations.
The hearing will also cover the functions of regulatory bodies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The DOJ recently expanded the number of people on its crypto crimes team. The team, which combines the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, is tasked with fighting ransomware attacks.
The US is not the only country seeking to regulate the crypto industry and combat crypto crimes. The UK, France, and the Netherlands are all working towards setting up protective guidelines for the industry.
The primary securities market regulator in Spain, the National Stock Market Commission (CNMV), recently criticized crypto platforms for posting misleading ads on crypto assets on X (previously Twitter) and stressed that crypto businesses must abide by local regulations.
CNMV leader Rodrigo Valbuena said that the ads in question “make illegal use of the image of some Spanish actors and the design and identity of a national media to try to obtain data and money from investors.”
Valbuena warned that Spanish laws hold “internet companies, media, and social networks” accountable for taking action against unlicensed businesses that promote investments and that noncompliance may result in serious consequences.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
