The US Justice Department launches the NCET, which will tackle money laundering, cyber crime and various other crypto-related offenses.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the launch of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team at the Department of Justice Wednesday to go after criminals who target cryptocurrency marketplaces and use digital coins to launder money. Although Monaco didn’t explain the exact structure of the team, she linked its creation to the department’s history of securities enforcement and the reliance of ransomware gangs on cryptocurrencies.
“Today we are launching the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to draw on the Department’s cyber and money laundering expertise to strengthen our capacity to dismantle the financial entities that enable criminal actors to flourish — and quite frankly to profit — from abusing cryptocurrency platforms” said Deputy Attorney General Monaco. “As the technology advances, so too must the Department evolve with it so that we’re poised to root out abuse on these platforms and ensure user confidence in these systems.”
“The Criminal Division is already an established leader in investigating and prosecuting the criminal misuse of cryptocurrency,” said Assistant Attorney General Polite. “The creation of this team will build on this leadership by combining and coordinating expertise across the Division in this continuously evolving field to investigate and prosecute the fraudulent misuse, illegal laundering, and other criminal activities involving cryptocurrencies.”
Since its inception, cryptocurrency has been a hotbed of fraud, money laundering, and pretty much every other financial crime you can think of. At times, the degree to which nefarious deeds have defined the industry has been absurd, if not downright hilarious. From that perspective, it just makes sense that law enforcement would want to crack down on the industry’s worst actors. Even more relevantly, however, crypto has largely been blamed for fueling the ransomware crisis in America—a threat that federal law enforcement is increasingly looking to combat.
The announcement comes as U.S. law enforcement and regulators continue to look for ways to disrupt illicit crypto transactions. The Biden administration last month blacklisted a Russian-owned cryptocurrency exchange for allegedly helping launder ransomware payments, an action meant to deter future cyber-extortion attacks by disrupting their primary means of profit.
The NCET will work closely with other federal agencies, subject matter experts, and its law enforcement partners throughout the government.
