Memory_Lane | #International_Tech_News | #Treasury_Nominee #Yellen (#YOUR_FIRED!! by #WE_THE_PEOPLE) is Looking to Curtail Use of #Cryptocurrency | Cryptocurrencies could come under #renewed_regulatory_scrutiny over the next four years if Janet Yellen, Joe Biden's pick to lead the #Treasury_Department, gets her way. During Yellen's Tuesday confirmation hearing before the #Senate_Finance_Committee, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) asked Yellen about the use of cryptocurrency by #terrorists and other #criminals.

"Cryptocurrencies are a particular #concern," Yellen responded. "I think many are used—at least in a transactions sense—mainly for #illicit_financing."

She said she wanted to "#examine_ways in which we can curtail their use and make sure that [#money_laundering] doesn't occur through those #channels."

Blockchain-based financial networks are attractive to criminals because they do not require users to identify themselves—as the law requires most conventional financial networks to do. Because no individual or organization controls these networks, there's no easy way for governments to force them to comply with #money_laundering #laws.

So instead of trying to force the networks themselves to comply, regulators in the US—and many other jurisdictions—have focused on #regulating #bitcoin_exchanges that help users #trade between #dollars and #cryptocurrencies. Once a bitcoin exchange identifies who initially received a particular bitcoin payment, law enforcement can often trace subsequent payments through a #blockchain network's open payment #ledger.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/01/biden-treasury-pick-yellen-favors-new-restrictions-on-cryptocurrency/

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