December 13, 2023
By Anjali Kochhar
Two sections of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that addressed concerns about cryptocurrency-related money laundering have been removed by the US government.
The country’s defense department is permitted to spend federal funds in accordance with the NDAA, a law. Two measures that addressed a comprehensive review mechanism and reporting of crypto operations to counteract illicit practices were among the long list of provisions that have been removed from the NDAA.
In order to establish a risk-focused crypto inspection and review system for financial institutions, the first provision required the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to work with banks and government regulators.
Combating anonymous transactions employing cryptocurrency mixers and tumblers was the focus of the second clause.
Creating a report outlining the amount of cryptocurrency asset transactions connected to sanctioned organizations was required for this. The report would also address the regulatory strategies used by other countries.
The U.S. government would then receive guidelines on how to apply crypto regulations after that.
The $886 billion NDAA was approved by the US Senate, according to a report published on July 28 by Cointelegraph.
The Responsible Financial Innovation Act and the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, both introduced in 2022 and aimed to establish safeguards to prevent another FTX-style incident in the industry, were included in the crypto-related changes.
A group of senators led by Cynthia Lummis, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Roger Marshall suggested this.
The U.S. government has been discussing concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing that are made possible by cryptocurrency use recently.
On November 15, the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives convened to deliberate on illicit actions occurring inside the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The degree to which decentralized finance providers and cryptocurrency exchanges are taking aggressive steps to stop money laundering and terrorist financing was also reviewed during the discussion.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
