US Department of Justice Announces Launch of National Crypto Enforcement Team

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An official from the attorney general’s office said the U.S. government will take a more active role in enforcement action against actors using cryptocurrencies for money laundering and other cybercrimes.

Speaking at the Aspen Institute’s Cyber ​​Summit on Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the Justice Department has launched the National Team to Combat Cryptocurrency, an initiative aimed at s’ attack platforms that help criminals launder or hide their proceeds of crime. Monaco cited its offices’ work against the Darknet (BTC) Helix-based Bitcoin (BTC) mixing service in August, but said the U.S. government should do more.

We want to strengthen our ability to dismantle the financial ecosystem that allows these criminal actors to thrive and quite frankly to profit from what they do, Monaco said. We were going to do it by bringing in our cyber experts, our cyber prosecutors and our money laundering experts.

She added:

Cryptocurrency exchanges want to be the banks of the future. We have to make sure that people can have confidence when using these systems, and we have to make sure that they are ready to eliminate the abuses that can settle on them.

Related: US Attorney General Issues Guidelines for Enforcement of Crypto Laws

Monaco has often been a central figure in the U.S. government’s response to major ransomware and cyber attacks involving cryptocurrency payments. She was part of a task force that found and recovered millions of dollars in Bitcoin paid to Russia-based DarkSide hackers following an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system in May.

The Deputy Attorney General also announced a civilian cyber fraud initiative to prosecute government contractors who fail to report breaches and uphold security standards.

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