Democratic Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren sent an open letter to Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s nominee for the post of US Treasury Secretary, in which she called on the department to take stricter measures regarding cryptocurrencies.

In her address to Scott Bessent, Elizabeth Warren stated the need to give the department more authority to impose sanctions against the crypto sector. She believes that anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (CFT) regulations should include specific provisions based on an assessment of the risk of using digital assets.

Criminals are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies to launder money, evade sanctions and finance national security threats, Warren said. Among them: a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, financing of North Korea’s nuclear program, China’s sale of weapons parts to sanctioned countries and ransomware attacks.

Warren asked Bessent whether, in order to comply with AML and CFT rules, it would be worthwhile to include in the Treasury Department’s powers a secondary sanctions tool that would allow the department to “separate fintech companies and crypto service operators from relations with the United States.”

She also questioned whether the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) could monitor stablecoins, and whether Congress should extend the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to foreign companies with ties to the U.S. market and U.S. customers.

Under the BSA, financial institutions are required to report their activities to the Treasury. US crypto exchanges, crypto wallet operators and other virtual service providers must also comply with certain requirements if they engage in the trading, transfer or storage of digital assets. Warren asked Bessent to be prepared to discuss these issues at his Jan. 16 confirmation hearing.

Recall that in 2023, Elizabeth Warren called for updating the BSA to include cryptocurrencies. The senator recently expanded her list of threats to US national security to include foreign mining companies. She is convinced that in addition to direct environmental damage, mining can be used for espionage and data collection about the US energy sector.