Advertisement
DOJ, CFTC, US Treasury Conference on Crypto Policy; SEC, Gensler Absent
- The Department of Justice (DOJ), CFTC, Treasury and Attorney General all featured in a crypto enforcement conference overnight.
- The team intends to double-down on preventing money laundering and terrorism financing, two crimes that Binance – the world’s largest exchange – has been accused of.
- The biggest news to come out of the conference is the DOJ’s confirmation that Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, has pleaded guilty to his charges.
- The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and Chair Gary Gensler were conspicuously absent.
The crypto industry is in a state of flux at the moment. Ever since the catastrophic collapse of FTX late last year, government agencies have been scrambling to set up appropriate regulatory frameworks for decentralised currencies. This uncertainty has been characterised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) going hard at several crypto products, yet ultimately losing multiple high-profile cases. Therefore, every crumb of information gleaned from a conference on crypto enforcement could have major ramifications on the future of the sector.
CZ’s Demise Leads Conference Highlights
The highest-stakes crypto enforcement conference to date began overnight, featuring major government bodies including representatives from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam. The focus of this meeting isn’t necessarily enacting new policy for the broader crypto industry, rather, the group is looking at the best way to tackle blockchain-related crime. Interestingly, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Chair Gary Gensler were not present, despite their heavy involvement in crypto enforcement throughout 2023.
The biggest news to come from the conference was Changpeng Zhao – CEO of Binance – officially pleaded guilty to criminal charges and purportedly allowed transactions to take place with ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas.
In general, the conference intended to make it incredibly clear that those operating within the United States will face significant consequences for breaking the law.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen emphasised this point:
We are taking the largest sanctions action in the history of the US Treasury Department
Janet Yellen Assistant Attorney General, Lisa Monaco, followed by saying:
If you serve U.S. customers, you must comply with U.S. law.
Lisa Monaco While Binance and Changpeng Zhao are currently in the hot seat, it appears that United States enforcement will be doubling efforts to tackle issues that have plagued segments of the industry for years, including money laundering and terrorism financing.
Author
Ben Knight
Ben Knight is a writer and editor from Melbourne with a passion for all things music and finance. He enjoys turning complex topics – especially the technical details of cryptocurrency – into digestible bites that anybody can understand. He acquired his Master’s in Writing, Editing and Publishing from RMIT in 2019 and has run his own creative writing business ever since.
