U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Senator Sherrod Brown in a Congressional hearing that the Treasury Department could use more powers to combat the alleged use of cryptocurrencies by terrorist groups.
The Ohio Democratic Party is seen as holding the purse strings of any future cryptocurrency bill. She asked Yellen during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday about what updates the Treasury Department needs to address the issue. While most of the hearing focused on the overall economy, some Democrats questioned Yellen about the use of cryptocurrencies by bad actors.
“We know that terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Al Qaeda, and Hezbollah use digital assets to raise and transfer funds. We have important tools to combat illicit finance, but few goes back to the post-9/11 era,” Brown said. “As terrorists continue to innovate, Secretary, do we need to update our counterterrorism tools to address the risks created by digital assets?”
Yellen said the Treasury Department could exercise additional authority.
“While we have many powers that enable us to act, we have identified many holes in our authority and have developed a list of suggestions for ways in which Treasury's authority could and should be strengthened,” Yellen said. I did,” he said.
Mr. Brown, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, called Negotiations are currently underway to crackdown on the use of cryptocurrencies for terrorist financing About the bill on using digital assets for money laundering, according to politiko.
Pushing for the passage of the Terrorist Financing Prevention Act
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, asked Yellen during Thursday's hearing what she thought of her recent comments. lawIt was necessary to crack down on the ability of terrorist groups to use cryptocurrencies.
Sen. Warner (Va.), Sen. Mike Rounds (RS.D), Sen. Jack Reed (DR.I), and Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) in December went beyond the 2015 law. Introduced the Terrorism Financing Prevention Act, which expands the powers of the Treasury Department. Mainly focused on Hezbollah.
The new bill would allow authorities to identify and sanction foreign financial institutions and foreign digital asset companies that knowingly facilitate transactions for Hamas and other entities.
“We agree that there are limitations facing the Treasury Department, and we certainly support the purpose of the bill,” Yellen said. “It will help empower us to successfully respond to very serious threats.”
Mr Warner responded: “I would consider that an endorsement.”
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