Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said that the agency considers bitcoin and other digital currencies as a “growing threat”. With this statement, she spoke to the Banking Committee of the Senate on Wednesday, January 17, reports Bloomberg.
According to Mandelker, at the moment the agency together with the Internal Revenue Service of the United States is checking 100 registered providers of crypto-exchange services for involvement in the financing of illegal activities. In addition, the Treasury cooperates with the Ministry of Justice in the investigation of a number of money laundering cases.
Mandelker also noted that the United States, Japan and Australia are actively working to create a regulatory framework for the regulation of cryptocurrency payments and the activities of digital exchanges. So, bitcoin auctions using US dollars and Japanese yen today account for more than half of the total trading volume in the world.
In conclusion, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury added that the US authorities will “aggressively pursue” cryptocurrency dealers who do not comply with all the necessary laws and regulations.
Recall, a few days ago a working group on cryptocurrencies was established under the US government.
Earlier, also reported that the country’s Ministry of Finance will cooperate with international partners from the G20 in the regulation of the cryptocurrency industry and the prevention of illegal activities related to digital assets.