William Barr, the Attorney General of the United States claims that the current publication of the Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework shall help the legal system to fight and curb the illicit activities witness by digital currencies platforms.
The framework designed by Attorney General’s Cyber-Digital Task Force is a “comprehensive overview of the emerging threats and enforcement challenges associated with the increasing prevalence and use of cryptocurrency” in Barr terms.
The newly designed framework shall support to trace the perpetrators who perform certain illegal activities that destroy the public policy, integrity, and smooth functioning of business affairs. In addition, the criminal finds crypto the most convenient way to settle the transactions as they assume it is hard to trace and track these coins.
Wray claims “At the FBI, we see first-hand the dangers posed when criminals bend the important technological promise of cryptocurrency to illicit ends. The director explains that employees at his agency have observed that “criminals (are now) using cryptocurrency to try to prevent us from following the money across a wide range of investigations.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is worried about the anonymity enhancing cryptocurrencies (AECs) like Monero, Zcash, and Dash as they are more prone to high-risk activities and hence can cause criminal acts.
Further, the DOJ makes it crystal clear that conspirators and operators “can be criminally liable for money laundering because these services are designed specifically to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of a financial transaction.”
Despite making such strict provisions and publication of framework, the DOJ claims to implement, enhance, and maintain the beauty of the recent framework it is important to work with international partners and agencies.
It can be said that this step is inevitable after BitMEX executives including John McAfee created pressure on U.S. officials through their unlawful activities.
Well, it is hard to assume that these frameworks will really support the framers to curb the menace of crypto industries. The perpetrators anyways find their way. Let’s wait and watch the next move.