A bi-partisan anti-money laundering (AML) bill that covers “decentralized entities” such as decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and DAOs will soon be reintroduced to Congress, according to United States Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren, a vocal crypto critic, argued at the Feb. 14 Senate Banking Committee’s hearing entitled “Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets” that the crypto community wants decentralized entities running on code to be exempt from AML requirements: “In other words, they want a giant loophole for DeFi written into the law so they can launder money whenever a drug lord or a terrorist pays …

Tel Aviv's Magistrate Court has reportedly issued a ruling allowing Israel's government to seize all the crypto in more than 150 digital wallets it blacklisted over alleged links to funding terrorist groups. According to Dec. 18 local Israeli media reports, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has revealed the court's Dec. 15 ruling has already allowed authorities to seize a further $33,500 from digital wallets linked to the Islamist militant group Hamas. Prior to the court ruling, Israeli authorities had only been legally allowed to seize digital assets with direct links to terrorist activity but not additional funds in the same …

A United States financial regulator is looking to gain feedback from the banking industry about how decentralized finance (DeFi) may affect the bureau's efforts to stop financial crime. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it is “looking carefully” at DeFi, while the agency’s acting director, Himamauli Das, said the digital asset ecosystem and virtual currencies are a “key priority area” for the agency. Das gave prepared remarks on Dec. 6 at the American Bankers Association’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference. The acting director added the agency is “taking a close look” at its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing …

Terrorist groups who have been excluded from the “formal financial system” have turned to crypto to fund their heinous activities, according to Svetlana Martynova, the Countering Financing of Terrorism Coordinator at the United Nations (UN). The UN official made the comments during a speech at a “Special Meeting” run by the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in New Delhi and Mumbai on Oct. 28-29 — which was focused on combating the use of “new and emerging technologies” for terrorist purposes. Martynova said that while cash and "hawala" — a traditional system of transferring money in Arab countries and South Asia — …

The first known case of a nonfungible token (NFT) created and shared by a “terrorist sympathizer” has come to light, raising concerns that the immutable nature of blockchain tech could help the spread of terrorist messages and propaganda. In a Sept. 4 article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), intelligence experts said the NFT could be a sign that Islamic State and other terror groups may also be using blockchain technology to evade sanctions and raise funds for their terrorist campaigns. The NFT in question was reportedly discovered by Raphael Gluck, co-founder of the U.S.-based research firm Jihadoscope, who discovered …

A set of 30 crypto wallets from 12 exchange accounts that have been linked to the terrorist group Hamas based in the Gaza Strip were seized on Monday by Israeli authorities. Crypto exchange al-Mutahadun held the wallets where 12 accounts were allegedly being used by Hamas leaders to fund terrorist efforts against Israel. The Times of Israel reported that Israel’s Defense Ministry said on Feb. 28 that al-Mutahadun has helped Hamas’s military wing “by transferring funds amounting to tens of millions of dollars a year.” The exact value of the seizures and specifically what crypto assets seized is not yet …

Israel has reportedly enacted new regulations related to the cryptocurrency industry in order to combat illegal activities like money laundering and terrorism financing. The government of Israel enforced new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations on Sunday, requiring local fintech companies and virtual currency service providers (VASPs) to obtain an operating license, local news agency Globes reported. The Israel Securities Authority, the Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings Authority, the country’s independent financial regulator, is now reportedly in the process of reviewing various VASPs that have applied for such a license. Shlomit Wegman, director of the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition …

The United Kingdom’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned consumers against 111 crypto companies that are yet to register with the FCA. Since Jan. 10, all U.K.-based crypto firms have had to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing laws, as well as to register with the FCA in order to operate legally. Many are yet to do so. Mark Steward, FCA’s head of enforcement asserted at the “City & Financial’s City Week” event on June 22, that the unregulated crypto entities pose a threat to consumers, banks, and payments firms who do business with them, noting …

A U.S. Congress subcommittee is investigating if domestic extremists are turning to cryptocurrency as a source of funds for their activities. On Feb. 25, the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy will hold a hearing titled “Dollars Against Democracy: Domestic Terrorist Financing in the Aftermath of Insurrection.” A committee memorandum ahead of the hearing stated that “as scrutiny by traditional banks and payment platforms increases, extremists are turning to solicitations of cryptocurrencies.” The memorandum lumps cryptocurrencies with other potential avenues for illicit activity financing including crowdfunding, charities, and social media platforms. Two main incidents are used to …

Goldman Sachs senior chairman Lloyd Blankfein has stated that regulators should be “hyperventilating” in response to Bitcoin’s recent success, characterizing the crypto asset as undermining the capacity for lawmakers to monitor the financial system. While appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Jan. 25, Blankfein asserted that Bitcoin’s pseudonymous nature makes it perfect for illicit financing, stating: “You don't know whether or not you’re paying the North Koreans, or Al-Qaeda, or the revolutionary guard.” Despite authorities frequently utilizing the transparency of blockchain to track the use of crypto by terrorist organizations, Blankfein questioned how regulators can allow crypto assets to flourish …

U.S. Representative Ted Budd (R-NC) has sponsored a new piece of legislation aimed at creating an agency tasked with combating the use of cryptocurrencies in terrorist financing. The bill — H.R. 296 — is co-sponsored by Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Byron Donalds (R-FL), and Darren Soto (D-FL) and was introduced on Wednesday. Apart from creating the task force, the bill also seeks to: “Provide rewards for information leading to convictions related to terrorist use of digital currencies, to establish a Fintech Leadership in Innovation and Financial Intelligence Program to encourage the development of tools and programs to …

In the final decision on a criminal case that began a decade ago, an appellate court has said that the National Security Agency’s phone data collection practices were in fact illegal. They did, however, uphold the convictions in the case. According to the 9th Circuit Court’s Sept. 2 opinion in USA v. Moalin: We conclude that the government may have violated the Fourth Amendment and did violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) when it collected the telephony metadata of millions of Americans. The court continued to attack the program, writing that the government’s case neglects that “the collection of …