The US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has designated cryptocurrency mixers as a significant
hub for money laundering activities. This action aims to increase scrutiny of
crypto transactions due to the increasing use of digital assets in money
laundering and terrorist financing.
FinCEN raised a concern about cryptocurrency mixing,
categorizing it as a “primary money laundering concern.” This
decision was influenced by recent events, including the Hamas attack on Israel,
which raised suspicions about the increasing use of convertible virtual
currencies in illicit activities.
As a response, FinCEN has proposed imposing
record-keeping and reporting requirements on domestic financial institutions
and agencies for transactions involving crypto mixers. These platforms have a
haven for digital asset holders seeking to conceal their cryptocurrency
transactions.
Andrea Gacki, the Director at FinCEN, said:
“CVC mixing offers a critical service that allows players in the
ransomware ecosystem, rogue state actors, and other criminals to fund their unlawful
activities and obfuscate the flow of ill-gotten gains.”
“This is FinCEN’s first-ever use of the Section
311 authority to target a class of transactions of primary money laundering
concern, and, just as with our efforts in the traditional financial system,
Treasury will work to identify and root out the…
