WASHINGTON—President Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury, Scott Bessent, is being asked to evaluate stricter regulations and enforcement measures for digital assets, MSN.com reported.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-A) wrote a letter to Bessent asking if the Treasury Department should have more power to sanction the crypto sector.
“Should AML/CFT and sanctions programs include risk-based provisions reasonably designed to prevent money laundering or terrorist financing involving digital assets,” wrote Warren, who is soon to be the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, MSN.com noted.
According to Warren, bad actors use cryptocurrency for criminal activity like money laundering and sanctions evasion and to finance actions such as North Korea’s nuclear program and ransomware attacks. MSN.com reported.
“Bad actors are also increasingly turning to cryptocurrency to enable money laundering, sanctions evasion, and to finance major national security threats, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s nuclear program, China’s sale of weapons parts to sanctioned nations, and ransomware attacks,” Warren said.
She also asked Bessent whether the department’s powers regarding Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing should include a secondary sanctions tool that would allow it to “sever fintech and crypto operators from US relationships,” MSN.com said.