The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a unit to analyze suspicious transactions in the blockchain, which will also deal with the confiscation of digital assets.
The FBI’s Special Virtual Assets Unit has been formed following the largest seizure of 94,000 BTC by law enforcement and the US Department of Justice earlier this month. We are talking about a married couple from New York, accused of laundering bitcoins that were stolen during the hacking of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2016. This week, a suspect in the exchange hack was released on $3 million bail.
At the Munich cybersecurity conference, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that Attorney Eun Young Choi will head the new FBI unit. She handled the case of a Russian hacker who is accused of facilitating the theft of information on more than 80 million JPMorgan & Chase Co. customers. Choi previously served as Senior Counsel to Lisa Monaco, and spent nearly a decade as a Cybercrime Coordinator and Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York City.
“This will be a warning to criminals using cryptocurrencies for illegal activities. We call on all organizations working with cryptocurrencies to stop abusing digital assets and using them for fraudulent schemes. Otherwise, the perpetrators will be held accountable,” Monaco said.
Recently, FBI Assistant Director of Cybersecurity Bryan Vorndran revealed that cryptocurrencies have become the main tool of ransomware. In October last year, FBI agents arrested an American engineer for spying and selling classified information about submarines for cryptocurrencies. And in November, the FBI warned the public about an increase in the theft of digital assets using cryptomats and QR codes.
Source: Bits
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