A group of five US law enforcement agencies formalizes new cooperation against crypto crime. It should allow fight more effectively against crimes related to the darknet and digital currencies. “Cryptocurrency-enabled crimes” such as drug trafficking, money laundering, theft of personal information, and child exploitation are targeted by the group.
Crypto Crime Task Force Formation and Goals
In fact, these agencies have been cooperating since 2017. They just wanted make their job easier by making their cooperation more formal. They are representatives from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Arizona, the US Attorney’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Postal Inspection Service. Last week, they signed a memorandum of understanding for the creation of a new working group.
The creation of a crypto crime task force seemed urgent as teams noticed an increase in the use of cryptocurrency for darknet crimes.
” The mission of the Darknet Marketplace and the Digital Currency Crimes Task Force is to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations that exploit the appearance of anonymity on the darknet or use digital currency to facilitate criminal activities “, According to a press release from the task force.
A task force inspired by other law enforcement agencies around the world
Indeed, this task force fighting against crypto crime is not the first of its kind. Cointelegraph recalls that several law enforcement agencies in other countries have created specialized units for crypto-related law enforcement. First, at the end of 2022, Interpol set up a crypto crimes unit. In Canada, city police are increasingly forming local task forces for this purpose. With 93 HSI locations in 56 countries, the new task force will be able to deploy globally.
Already in February, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) set up a virtual asset exploitation unit. For its part, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the stock market watchdog, has also almost doubled its Cyber Unit Last year.
The United States seems intent on stepping up with the measures against crypto crime. This should allow give a better reputation to this industry which is often accused of facilitating crimes. But, shouldn’t we start with the much-requested crypto regulations?
Receive a digest of news in the world of cryptocurrencies by subscribing to our new service of daily and weekly so you don’t miss any of the essential Tremplin.io!
