US Treasury Nominee: Anti-money laundering is our priority in the cryptocurrency market

According to Coindesk, Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department's nominee for terrorism and financial intelligence, said yesterday that he would make money laundering in the cryptocurrency market a priority.

“If I am confirmed, I will prioritize implementation of this legislation, including new regulations around cryptocurrency,” Nelson, who previously served as deputy chief of staff for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, told the Senate Banking Committee during his confirmation hearing.

In June, Charles Rettig, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), said that the United States needs clear congressional authorization to issue new regulations on cryptocurrencies. "The total market value of the cryptocurrency market has exceeded $2 trillion, and there are more than 8,600 exchanges worldwide. By design, most cryptocurrencies and virtual currencies are created to evade regulation, so this is a challenging area for us.

He added that the agency would need to use "other tools" to better monitor the fast-growing industry. That same month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would make ransomware attacks a priority on the same level as terrorism, a move that came in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline attack, which saw a multimillion-dollar ransom paid in Bitcoin.

Elsewhere in the world, the link between cryptocurrencies and terrorism financing has resurfaced, with a senior Hamas official telling the Wall Street Journal that the group has seen an increase in Bitcoin donations during the recent conflict with Israel. “There has been a spike in [Bitcoin donations] recently, and some of the money has been used for military purposes to defend the basic rights of Palestinians,” the Hamas official said.