US Senators Propose Bill to Enhance Secret Service’s Authority to Tackle Crypto Crimes
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Charles Grassley of Iowa have unveiled a new bill to increase the Secret Service’s authority to bolster the fight against cryptocurrency-related crimes.
The bill, dubbed the “Combatting Money Laundering in Cyber Crime Act of 2024,” aims to grant the Secret Service expanded powers to probe cryptocurrency transactions conducted by unlicensed money transmitters and potential frauds targeting US financial institutions.
“The funding of criminal activity through digital assets poses a direct threat to the security and safety of our nation,” Senator Cortez Masto said.
My new bill with @ChuckGrassley gives the Secret Service the tools to investigate criminal organizations using digital assets to evade the law.
The Secret Service plays a critical role in combatting financial crime, and our bill will ensure they can continue to keep us safe.
— Senator Cortez Masto (@SenCortezMasto) August 4, 2024
The proposed legislation has garnered bipartisan support.
Senator Grassley claimed that the bill is necessary for stronger threat assessments to root out illicit financial operations that enable money laundering schemes.
“Putting financial activity on federal law enforcement’s radar like this bill does will improve our capacity to anticipate and prevent crimes.”
Recent data from blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis revealed that illicit addresses managed to launder an alarming $22.2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 2023.
While this figure is substantial, it marks a notable decline of almost 30% from the previous year’s total of $31.5 billion.
Despite these findings, the US Treasury has underscored that traditional cash transactions, not cryptocurrencies, remain the primary avenue for money
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