A senator from the US state of Massachusetts, a member of the US Democratic Party, called for updating the bank secrecy law to eliminate the threat posed by cryptocurrencies.

Elizabeth Warren believes that the law should definitely mention cryptocurrencies, since they are often used to finance terrorism and drug trafficking. The senator recalled that North Korea is using cryptocurrencies to implement its nuclear weapons program, so “American lawmakers cannot allow this to continue.”

The Bank Secrecy Act requires U.S. financial institutions to report to government agencies on measures to prevent money laundering, tax evasion and other criminal activities. Warren doesn’t think that’s enough. The congresswoman of the upper house of the American parliament has published a call to tighten oversight of the crypto industry: compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) rules through cryptocurrencies has already become a matter of national security.

“When it comes to banking policy, I usually disagree with the heads of multi-billion dollar banks. Now is the time for Congress to act.”
wrote Warren, hinting at recent statements by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who proposed that the US authorities ban Bitcoin.

In May, a bill to combat cryptocurrency money laundering that Elizabeth Warren is working on was delayed due to funding uncertainty. Forbes magazine journalist Sam Lyman is confident that the main goal of the bill is not to suppress illegal financing through cryptocurrencies, but to destroy Bitcoin.