On Monday, two Democratic Representatives asked the Trump administration to provide more information on cryptocurrency recently seized from terrorists. According to an Aug. 26 report by The Hill, the request is related to the millions of dollars in crypto assets that the U.S. Department of Justice seized from several terror organizations. Organizations involved included Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas and al-Qassam. The request was initiated by Emanuel Cleaver — chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy — and subcommittee member Josh Gottheimer. Together, they requested information about the operation from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note DeFi has stolen the show lately. Spectacular rises and falls of unaudited tokens named after meme-able foods changing hands via ascendant liquidity pools have left many of us unimaginative observers mostly blinking. In this area, I can offer no particularly hot takes beyond the line that keeps coming to me: “This does not end well.” Chalk it up to some midwestern assumption that money you make too quickly is never truly yours. But the situation with DeFi and yield …

Per an Aug. 13 announcement from the United States Department of Justice, the authorities have seized millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from over 300 accounts. The announcement does not specify the specific amount, but does identify the operation as the largest to target terrorist funding in cryptocurrency. A wide range of agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the IRS were involved in the campaign. The campaign shut down several websites and Facebook pages that either overtly or, in the case of one fraudulent site selling medical masks, covertly gathered funds for terrorist operations. According to …

A former key executive at the United States Department of the Treasury has joined a major cryptocurrency investigation firm, Chainalysis. Sigal Mandelker, a former Treasury Under Secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, has reportedly joined Chainalysis’ board of advisors. As officially announced on July 7, the new position on the startup’s board comes alongside Mandelker’s participation in a Chainalysis’ extended $49 million Series B funding round. Mandelker to share blockchain investigation experience with Chainalysis As reported by Forbes, the new position on the board marks Mandelker’s first public work since she left Trump’s White House for the private sector in …

The terrorist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, is beginning to switch to Monero (XMR) to accept donations from the public. As reported by blockchain intelligence company, Whitestream, and independently confirmed by Cointelegraph, a news website affiliated with the terrorist organization and the jihadist movement has updated its donations page on June 21 to only accept Monero. According to the tutorial page published by the website, Monero is a more secure method of payment that cannot be traced. The page then explains how users can buy and send Monero, while including the XMR address. …

Russia’s decision to lift its two-year Telegram ban is going to mark the beginning of a broader movement to protect privacy-focused apps like Telegram, the company’s CEO says. Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, issued a statement in response to Russian authorities officially terminating the ban on the messaging app in the country last week. Telegram’s progress in Russia to help other countries In a June 21 Telegram post, Durov said that the company will not rest on its laurels, and is planning more efforts to support Telegram in other countries like China and Iran. According to Durov, the …

After years of unsuccessful efforts to ban Telegram in Russia, local authorities have finally decided to cancel the ban on the major encrypted messenger in the country. Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, also known as Roskomnadzor, has officially lifted the two-year-long ban on Telegram. In an official statement on Thursday, Roskomnadzor said that the authority has removed requirements restricting the access to the Telegram messenger in agreement with the Prosecutor General of Russia. Announcing the news, Roskomnadzor outlined that the regulator commends Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s willingness to confront terrorism and extremism. The …

A report published by the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research (PIPVTR) reveals that terrorist groups related to Islamic State (IS) in Southeast Asia have recently made their first transactions using cryptocurrencies. According to the report unveiled on May 20, the funds are helping finance regional terror groups like the Jemaah Ansharut Dalauh and the Mujahideen Eastern Timur in Mindanao. Coin laundry The report detailed a money-laundering operation’s use of cryptocurrencies, which consisted of two phases according to the PIPVTR. The first was where crypto assets of “suspicious origin” were channeled through unidentified exchanges. This “deliberately obfuscated” transactions …

Blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis has published a report debunking a number of popular narratives surrounding the use of crypto to finance terrorism. The report emphasizes the harm of false reporting in spreading misinformation and damaging the reputation of firms operating with virtual currencies. As “a trusted investigative partner to governments around the world, preventing terrorists from using cryptocurrency is one of our primary objectives,” Chainalysis states. “It’s a serious task, and it’s important to be responsible and judicious when releasing information on a subject as consequential as terrorism financing.” Chainalysis debunks ISIS’ $300m crypto war chest Chainalysis cites reports from …

May 6, the Libra Association announced the appointment of Obama’s former under secretary for terrorism as its first CEO. Stuart Levey served as an under secretary for terrorism under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, focusing on the enforcement of all U.S. anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing laws by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). In his most recent position, he served as the chief legal officer at HSBC. Levey’s appointment continues a trend of Libra trying to make peace with regulators. Bipartisan support The press release quotes Katie Haun, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and …

A United States federal court has sentenced a U.S. citizen to 13 years in jail for laundering money for ISIS using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Per a Department of Justice announcement on March 13, Zoobia Shahnaz of Long Island received a 13-year sentence for working to fund the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham through cryptocurrency payments amounting to over $150,000. She also worked to move to Syria to become a member of ISIS. Fraudulent loans for financing To raise the funds, Shahnaz allegedly defrauded major banks including American Express, Chase and Discover, according to the original indictment from December …

While some global cryptocurrency exchanges move to expand Know Your Customer (KYC) rules, some major rivals claim that crypto platforms do not need KYC at all. Digitex, a Seychelles-based crypto derivatives exchange, will start removing KYC identification this week in response to a major user data leak that happened last month. Digitex will have no KYC identity requirements as of April 2020 Adam Todd, CEO at Digitex Futures Exchange, revealed the news in a public video statement on March 4, declaring that Digitex will have all KYC identification processes removed from its platform as of April 2020. Todd clarified that …