Looks like the Biden administration is gonna take a big swing at international "mixers" this Thursday. These are essentially crypto exchanges that keep users anonymous, but now they're being labeled as money-laundering spots that could harm national security. This new designation is like a sanction and means any financial transactions involving them will need to be reported specifically.
The Treasury Department is really stepping up its game here, using one of its strongest tools to tackle illegal finance. Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, said this move shows the Treasury’s dedication to fighting how convertible virtual currencies are misused by all kinds of bad actors, including state-sponsored cybercriminals, regular cyber crooks, and even terrorist groups. He specifically mentioned Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as targets of this crackdown.
Things just got serious for the owners of these mixers. They could be facing some major charges that, in the US, could land them in prison for life. Man, this is a wild time for crypto.
Does this have anything to do with the current war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel? I mean, has it really been revealed that Bitcoin mixing operations were carried out by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad?
In any case, the United States has been seeking from the beginning to link Bitcoin mixers with terrorist groups and money laundering, and now it seems that this is a very good opportunity for them.
Of course, no one denies the possibility of terrorist groups using mixers, but sentencing life imprisonment in a harsh prison simply for using a Bitcoin mixer seems extremely cruel and far from justice and logic.
The date was reported on 10/19. Was such legislation passed or was it part of the media war and statements that spread from 10/7?
Some words in the article, such as the future of the global financial system, make me doubt whether it is real news or whether the project has been implemented.
I do not know why the name Hamas was mentioned, but the text in the article does not clearly refer to the organization, but it includes all cyber actors, cyber criminals, and terrorist groups.
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-war-biden/card/u-s-cites-hamas-in-broad-sanctions-against-foreign-crypto-mixers-i44QIsVOEPpkWf3ewqNT
This accusation is baseless because there is no evidence that Hamas is receiving funds through cryptocurrencies. But there has been pressure from some lawmakers led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren for the crackdown on privacy services providers to curb the perceived flow of funds.
It is just a proposed new regulation that would go through some process before it finally becomes a law. This proposed law will be uncovered tomorrow and it will go through public scrutiny for ninety days before it will either be adopted or shelved.
I thought it was Thursday 10/19 and not tomorrow. In general, such legislation will restrict the work and development of many privacy enhancing tools, as many developers are located in the United States or are trying to comply with US legislation, including this forum, which may be prohibited such services, so let's hope the final version is good.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-feeds-hamass-terrorism-e0db54f5
Cryptocurrency Feeds Hamass Terrorism
Decentralized finance companies should be subject to the same anti-money-laundering rules as banks.
I will make a screenshot of this post, because such a failure will be hidden
https://twitter.com/samcallah/status/1715854073461604555?s=20
Iran using $6 billion deal with US to fund terrorist group Hamas
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/iran-using-6-billion-deal-with-us-to-fund-terrorist-group-hamas/ar-AA1i9gVO
I just don't know what to do with this circus. : US billions, of course, will not go to finance the war, but 90 million in cryptocurrency, 82 of which are a pure failure, immediately worried all opponents of cryptocurrency.
How two-faced politics is..
It is more propaganda than something based on real fears. Some reports indicate that the misuse of funds in banks amounts to billions of dollars a year, so 80 million dollars cannot bring about transformations in conflicts.
Such legislation will remain locked away because it is based on temporary emotions, and after two to several months, public opinion will shift toward new issues, as happens every once in a while.
I expect this draft law to disappear, but it will be the basis for less/more severe laws and legislation depending on the public mood.
I think that the amount of money in cryptocurrency is not important. The United States wants to maintain a monopoly on the financing of military conflicts, so any transfers in cryptocurrencies cause a lot of negativity in the United States. A world war is impossible because of nuclear weapons, but an economic war in such a situation can be very successful.
I don't know how bitcoin mixers resident in US will have to handle this. The mixer is always seen as a bad player as it gives an opportunity for even criminals to use, but then you cannot undermine the importance of privacy and its preservation.
I am imagining if the government could eventually win the war against privacy. Is ev everyone's data eventually gona be exposed and stored by the government?
Maybe they are just covering all the loop holes. Is it possible that war could be financed with bitcoin? If yes, the prevent it.
If you read this, you will understand that some countries have a lot of experience
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5441385.msg61825995#msg61825995
Any military conflict requires at least several hundred million dollars of expenses per day, and such expenses cannot be paid using cryptocurrencies, because such transfers will immediately be very suspicious. Therefore, cryptocurrencies cannot play a decisive role in war.
This is a FinCEN proposal with requirements for financial institutions to maintain records of cryptocurrency transactions
"Proposal of Special Measure Regarding Convertible Virtual Currency Mixing, as a Class of
Transactions of Primary Money Laundering Concern
AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury"
https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/federal_register_notices/2023-10-19/FinCEN_311MixingNPRM_FINAL.pdf
Federal agents and authorities are really spinning up laws just to say they're doing something right now.
For them, ousting Palestinians and funding Israel's genocide is something that has to happen fast, because they know the tide is turning against them.
The new generation, be it from a conservative or progressive upbringing, they are all against war abroad. Younger people don't want all this military spending, they don't want soldiers abroad, they don't want a military industrial complex. And more than anything else, they don't want billions spent on a murderous state with criminal leadership. In 10 or 20 years, unless Israel moves away from its murderous Zionist agenda, it's going to lose all support. So it's really vital for politicians to rile up crowds by re-creating the ghost of "terror-financing". Just as they did with iraq, then touting weapons of mass destruction...
Deep inside they know that crypto is the most peaceful form of money. They know that throughout 74 years of NATO's existence we've only seen more terrorism, more dictatorships, more destruction and overall more violence and conflict. So they're really afraid of crypto gaining more momentum, because it has the potential to pull the rug under politician's feet if people decide to rise against them and their blood hungry agendas.
I think that you are exaggerating the role of cryptocurrencies in military conflicts. Weapons are becoming more modern, military quadcopters are becoming more modern and do not require much training for the instructor, but they cause great damage to the enemy.
This is not the most recent post but I could not resist replying to it.
It seems that they have such a big problem with Cryptocurrencies in general. Do they provide more anonymity and money laundering hubs only when we are using them? Every body seemed very happy when Ukraine opened ways for Cryptocurrency donations. Do these Coins not count as coming from criminal sources and national security threats or is it good only when THEY are using them in a war the way they like? What would have they said if Russia opened such donation Addresses before Ukraine? Bitcoin bad?
I wonder if they ever asked for Know Your Customer documentation when large funds arrived in the Ukrainian Addresses too? Who knows whose laundry may have arrived in there!
I am trying as much as I can to be very neutral politically. But when there are holes I can not ignore them. They like Bitcoin when we are funding wars but when we are using a Mixer to protect ourselves from all sorts of weirdos such as Wasabi working with Blockchain Analysis, we become something very close to terrorists threatening national security in their eyes. Either they like Bitcoin or they do not.
I want to see ONE study that proves we are big money launderers. I want to see ONE study that proves Mixers are money laundering hubs! I want to see ONE study that proves we threaten national security!
We do not. I can write such statements too with no backing proof to sound as if zasad@ is the biggest and most dangerous enemy in the history of United States.
There you go. The first part was an excuse. The second part is the actual purpose of their new 'solution to the BIG threat'. Reporting of any financial Transaction was what they wanted but how else do you impose this with out coming up with something that seems huge and emotional first.
Guess we all have to point our bazookas purchased with money laundered money straight at the White House now. Where you at, all Mixer users?! Our time to shine!
War is an expensive undertaking. In fact, military costs could be estimated at several billion dollars, and $100 million in aid raised through cryptocurrency could be insignificant.
Cryptocurrency can be used for criminal purposes, but even mixers do not have enough liquidity to hide transactions involving tens of millions of dollars.
Why close them if they act as useful idiots?
Their transactions are monitored and then these coins are blocked on centralized services. Of course, in some cases, other people who actually bought cryptocurrencies fall under these sanctions, but no one cares.
Be careful yourself when sending coins to centralized exchanges.