Secret Service Unveils Cryptocurrency Awareness Hub
Last updated on September 9th, 2022 at 10:27 am
The cryptocurrency market has significantly grown over the past year, with the U.S. now being one of the largest crypto economies globally. Amidst this growth, the regulatory framework is also shifting.
U.S. authorities have been working their way into regulating this sector. The Secret Service has unveiled a cryptocurrency awareness hub and it advertised it to the public through a short video.
Secret Service Creating Public Awareness
The educational hub to be launched by the U.S. Secret Service will deal with the illegal use of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
The video says that the platform will prohibit the
“illicit use of digital assets as well as provide public awareness information on digital asset security and how to ensure it remains secure.”
According to Jeremy Sheridan, the Assistant Director of the U.S. Secret Service Office of Investigation, the hub will also focus on financial crimes done through digital assets.
To this effect, it will “identify arrest and prosecute those engaging in crimes involving digital assets.”
However, the message did not talk all about the negative aspects of the sector. The language used in the video was positive and did not castigate the sector or urge the public to stay away from cryptocurrencies.
The website talking about this says that
“digital and cryptocurrencies continue to become more popular forms of payments.”
To this end, the video stated that there was a need for the Secret Service to stay focused on the matter.
The launch of this cryptocurrency hub will not be the first time that the Secret Service is setting eyes on the cryptocurrency sector. Two years back, the Secret Service unveiled the Finance-Related Cybercrime Task Force.
However, at the time, the institution focused on how cryptocurrencies could be used to facilitate illegal transactions.
Crypto Gaining Adoption
The cryptocurrency sector has seen growing adoption over the past year.
This shift in the sector comes with adoption of Bitcoin primarily and cryptocurrency in general being adopted by countries, sports teams, businesses, law enforcement agencies and an increasing number of states.
This is a shift from governments trying to attribute cryptocurrencies solely to promoting illegal activities and cybercrime.
While there is a percentage of illicit dealing in cryptocurrency, the sector has proven to be more transparent and less preferred by criminals.
The Secret Service has admitted that the cryptocurrency sector does not necessarily involve criminal activities.
“Investments and transactions using cryptocurrencies and digital assets are not inherently criminal,” the Secret Service said.
The use of blockchain technology has made using cryptocurrencies more secure and transparent than using payment methods such as cash. Transactions done on the blockchain such as Bitcoin are transparent and they can be easily monitored by law enforcement.
Recently, a couple accused of laundering money linked to the 2016 Bitfinex hack was arrested after their transactions were monitored on the blockchain. The arrest of the two sheds light on how hard it is to launder money through blockchain. This leaves cash as the most preferred way for criminals to make transactions.
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