[co-author: Cole]
Weekly Fintech Focus
- Treasury Releases National Risk Assessments
- SEC Probing NFT Market
- Russia/Ukraine Sanctions Overview
- Summary of Industry Responses
- BitConnect Founder Flees India After Being Indicted In $2B Ponzi Scheme
- UK Government to Crackdown on Illegal Cryptocurrency Activity
- Swiss City of Lugano to Make Bitcoin and Tether ‘De Facto’ Legal Tender
U.S. Developments
REGULATION
Treasury Releases National Risk Assessments
The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) issued the 2022 National Risk Assessments (NRAs) on (1) money laundering, (2) terrorist financing, and (3) proliferation financing, highlighting “the most significant illicit finance threats, vulnerabilities, and risks facing the United States.” Each of the three risk assessments included a section on virtual assets. As a general matter, the Treasury is concerned with an increasing number of incidents where terrorist groups and other criminals are soliciting funds in virtual assets, “usually through a social media platform or other internet-based crowdsource platform.” However, Treasury also explained that, while the use of virtual assets for terrorist financing and other criminal activity is growing, “such cases are still less prevalent than those involving traditional financial assets” and, particularly with respect to money laundering, use “remains far below that of fiat currency and more traditional methods.”
In addition to concerns related to…
