U.S. Senate calls for tighter oversight of cryptocurrency use by ransomware programs

Maggie Hassan, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, sent a letter to several agencies, in which she expressed concern about the use of cryptocurrency as ransom by ransomware programs.

Among the addressees were the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Treasury.

The move was prompted by developments in the state of New Hampshire, which she represents. In the town of Peterborough, criminals stole $2.3 million before converting it into digital assets as a result of a cyberattack.

“The inherent anonymity of cryptocurrencies has helped facilitate their use by criminals in countless ways, including selling drugs on the dark web, payments to ransomers, tax evasion, financing of terrorism and organized crime, and money laundering,” the senator explained.

She pointed to the need to tighten adherence to KYC procedures, noting the absence of such requirements on decentralized exchanges and over-the-counter platforms.

Hassan sits on the Senate Finance Committee along with Elizabeth Warren. The latter named cryptocurrencies «new shadow banks».

In June, Representative Bill Foster said that ransomware programs extorting Bitcoin could bury the reputation of the first cryptocurrency as its status is considered by Congress.

Earlier, President Joe Biden ordered a study of tracking cryptocurrency transactions as one of the options to combat ransomware.

Later, Warren stated that crimes have become easier to commit thanks to digital assets. As examples, she cited ransomware attacks on the companies Colonial Pipeline and JBS.

Subsequently, the media reported that investigations of similar incidents in the United States have received the same level of priority as terrorism cases.

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