According to Eun Young Choi, head of the cryptography unit at the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the United States has decided to target digital platforms because they make it easier for criminals and money launderers. Choi said the DOJ hopes taking action against entities such as crypto exchanges “will have a multiplier effect.”
DOJ to target mixers and cups
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) will target digital asset exchanges and entities providing mixers and tumblers that are used to obfuscate the trail of transactions, said Eun Young Choi, the so-called crypto czar of the department. According to Choi, who became the director of the law enforcement team in 2022 at the department, the DOJ targets such businesses because they allow money launderers to easily move funds undetected.
In addition to allowing criminals to profit from their actions, Choi said the DOJ hopes the actions taken against digital platforms will have a broader impact. Choi would have declared:
But on top of that, they make it easy for all other criminal actors to profit from their crimes and cash in in a way that we obviously have trouble with. So we hope that by focusing on these types of platforms, we will have a multiplier effect.
By focusing on digital platforms, Choi said his department also sends a “deterrent message” to companies circumventing sanctions and those failing to meet required customer identification rules.
US Crypto Crackdown
During its tenure as the crypto czar of the Biden administration, the United States government cracked down on crypto platforms and influencers. Additionally, a record fine against suspected crypto scammers has been imposed. The US government’s increasingly tough stance on crypto has, in turn, prompted crypto entities like Coinbase to consider moving to countries with less stringent regulations.
However, despite threats from crypto exchanges to pull out of the country, Choi suggested the crackdown was necessary to prevent criminal elements from using crypto to achieve their goal.
“We see that the scale and scope of digital assets being used in various illicit ways is increasing dramatically over the last, say, four years,” Choi said.
In addition to targeting crypto exchanges, Choi’s crypto unit within the DOJ also targets investment scams. According to the report, in April alone, the department seized crypto assets worth over $112 million that it claimed were linked to such scams.
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