US Senate to investigate role of cryptocurrencies in cybercrime, prepares for regulation

As we all know, cryptocurrencies represented by Bitcoin are often used for illegal activities and are also commonly used by hackers for extortion, which makes most countries in the world extremely disgusted.

July 21st news, according to foreign media reports, on Tuesday local time, Gary Peters, chairman of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced that he would launch an investigation into the role of cryptocurrencies in encouraging cybercrime.

Foreign media said that the investigation will investigate current regulatory efforts and regulations related to virtual currencies. In addition, it will also make recommendations on how lawmakers and federal agencies can ensure that all Americans can safely benefit from cryptocurrencies and how to ensure that cryptocurrencies do not incentivize criminal organizations to continue to attack American networks and communities across the country.

In a statement, Peters noted that ransomware attacks increased 150% in 2020 from the previous year, with more than $412 million worth of cryptocurrency paid to cyber criminals.

As the popularity and price of Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum continue to rise, so too do online scams related to these digital currencies.

According to data from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Americans have lost more than $80 million to cryptocurrency investment scams since October 2020, an increase of 1,000% from the fall of 2019. Among them, people aged 20 to 39 suffered particularly severe losses, accounting for about 44% of the total losses.

According to data from the coingecko website, as of now, the total market value of cryptocurrencies is $1.3 trillion, and the top three cryptocurrencies by market value are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether. (Little Fox).