Blockchain Legal Resource

Following up on President Biden’s recent executive order on digital assets, the US Treasury Department recently announced the publication of three reports on digital assets.  The reports address issues relating to The Future of Money and Payments; Implications for Consumers, Investors, and Businesses; and an Action Plan to Address Illicit Financing Risks of Digital Assets.

As we previously reported, the US Treasury Department recently announced its 2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (the 2020 Strategy). The 2020 Strategy identifies the US government’s top anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) priorities and serves as a roadmap of Treasury’s plan to stay ahead of evolving illicit finance threats. Additionally, the 2020 Strategy provides private sector financial institutions a window into upcoming legislative efforts and enforcement trends, which should in turn inform compliance efforts through the coming years. Digital assets feature heavily in the 2020 Strategy.

Today the CFTC, SEC and FinCEN issued a joint statement on digital assets. In particular, the joint statement reminds persons engaged in activities involving digital assets of their anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The entire joint statement is available here.