CRYPTOCURRENCY CONCERNS

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) on Thursday raised concerns around the use of cryptocurrency for criminal means, pressing key federal agencies to take action.

The senator’s concerns were raised in the wake of escalating ransomware and other cyberattacks over the past year in which hackers have utilized cryptocurrency markets to obtain payments from victims looking to regain access to their networks.

Hassan, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter detailing her concerns to the leaders of the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Hassan pointed to a recent incident in her home state of New Hampshire in which $2.3 million was stolen from the city of Peterborough, with the funds unable to be recovered after they were converted by the attackers into cryptocurrency.

“The anonymity provided by cryptocurrency has helped facilitate its use by criminals in a myriad of ways,” she warned. “These uses include drug sales over the dark web, payments for ransomware attacks, tax evasion, financing for terrorism and organized crime, money laundering, and more.”