WASHINGTON—Amid growing concerns surrounding ransomware attacks in the U.S., Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) has announced a bipartisan investigation of how cryptocurrencies could be facilitating such activity.
“The increased use of cryptocurrencies as the preferred method of payment in ransomware attacks shows that cybercriminals believe they can commit attacks without being held accountable,” said Peters, who is also the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Cybercrime has been a focus recently as President Joe Biden publicly accused China of carrying out malicious ransomware attacks on U.S. companies earlier in the year. Debate has continued as to whether the U.S. should impose sanctions on Beijing in retaliation for the attacks.
The announcement comes at the same time Brazilian police have seized $33 million following an anti-money laundering probe in which many domestic exchanges processed the transactions in breach of AML requirements.
Earlier this month, officials in Hong Kong arrested four men in one of the city’s first virtual currency money laundering cases in a scheme that might involve up to $155 million.
Similarly in the U.K., police recently seized $408 million in cryptocurrency in less than a month in ongoing investigations of crypto’s use in money laundering, Forkast noted, adding that in 2020 the amount of crypto paid in ransomware attacks increase by 337% over 2019, totaling $406.34 million for the year.