The Blockchain Integrity Act, a piece of legislation that seeks to put a 2-year moratorium on using cryptocurrency mixers, was introduced by U.S. Congressman Sean Casten on March 7 in the U.S. House of Representatives. Co-sponsored by Reps. Bill Foster, Brad Sherman, and Emanuel Cleaver, the bill proposes to conduct a study on the issue to address its adoption by bad actors.
The U.S. Congress seeks to stop cryptocurrency mixers’ adoption while it assesses the best way of regulating them. The Blockchain Integrity Act, a bill that proposes establishing a 2-year moratorium on the use of cryptocurrency mixers, was introduced on May 7 into the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Sean Casten, and co-sponsored by Reps. Bill Foster, Brad Sherman, and Emanuel Cleaver.
To this end, the bill bans financial institutions, including cryptocurrency exchanges, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and money service businesses, from accepting transactions that have passed by a service of this kind, or from allowing withdrawals to one of these mixing services directly.
The objective of this bill is to allow the country’s regulators, including the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), to conduct a detailed study on the inner workings of these mixers and issue guidelines for their regulation, addressing its illicit use by bad actors.
Casten remarked on the illicit use that actors like the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have given these privacy-enhancing tools. He stated:
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Half of North Korea’s nuclear program is funded through cryptocurrency theft made possible by mixers.
Sherman hinted at a full ban on cryptocurrency mixers in the U.S., stressing this regulation would be a “vital first step in banning the use of crypto mixers in the United States” enabling regulators to “better understand the dangers mixers pose to our national security and financial system.”
Last year, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed implementing special reporting procedures for financial institutions dealing with transactions involved in mixing operations.
Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/anti-crypto-mixer-blockchain-integrity-act-introduced-in-us-house-of-representatives/