The US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury called on the US Congress to provide the Treasury Department and the Treasury with the “necessary legislative tools” to combat illicit cryptocurrency financing.

Wally Adeyemo testified before members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that groups such as al-Qaeda, Hamas and government officials from countries unfriendly to the United States use various methods to hide their identity and move financial resources using virtual currencies.

Adeyemo brought to the attention of the Committee that the financial regulator has successfully used its powers to cut off these groups from sources of traditional financing. However, the department lacks “legislative tools” to combat the illegal use of virtual assets.

The official called on congressmen to pass legislation aimed at strengthening the influence of the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury to prosecute such entities. The new law should include secondary sanctions aimed at foreign providers of digital assets that promote anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions and illicit financing. And also eliminate jurisdictional risks associated with blocking the activities of offshore cryptocurrency platforms that harm US national security.

Previously, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on 13 organizations for using cryptocurrencies when interacting with sanctioned Russian companies.