- The United States Senate passed the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) worth $886 billion on July 27, which includes provisions targeting crypto mixers, anonymity-enhancing coins, and institutions engaged in crypto trading.
- The NDAA bill helps authorize how the country’s defense department can utilize federal funding.
- A group of senators, including Cynthia Lummis, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Roger Marshall, advanced a crypto-related amendment within the bill.
- The amendment incorporates provisions from the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act introduced in 2022 and the Responsible Financial Innovation Act.
- The amendment aims to establish examination standards for crypto to assess risk and ensure compliance with related sanctions and money laundering laws.
- The amendment compels the Treasury Department to conduct a study on cracking down on anonymous crypto transactions, including the use of crypto mixers like Tornado Cash.
- In 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department issued sanctions against the crypto mixer Tornado Cash for facilitating money laundering from malicious actors.
- The NDAA also includes an amendment that requires companies to disclose their investments in China to help the government understand technology transfers to “adversaries.”
The United States Senate has passed the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a bill worth $886 billion that includes provisions targeting crypto mixers, anonymity-enhancing coins, and institutions engaged in crypto trading. The NDAA bill helps authorize how the country’s defense department can utilize federal funding. A group of senators, including Cynthia Lummis, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Roger Marshall, advanced a crypto-related amendment within the bill. This amendment incorporates provisions from the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act introduced in 2022 and the Responsible Financial Innovation Act.
The amendment aims to establish examination standards for crypto, assessing risk and ensuring compliance with related sanctions and money laundering laws. It also compels the Treasury Department to conduct a study on cracking down on anonymous crypto transactions, including the use of crypto mixers like Tornado Cash.
In 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department issued sanctions against the crypto mixer Tornado Cash, which facilitated money laundering from malicious actors. The mixer was designed for people to anonymize their transactions but was often used by criminals to hide ill-gotten crypto. According to the Treasury Department, the mixer failed to impose controls that disallow money laundering by bad actors in the space.
The NDAA bill also includes an amendment that requires companies to disclose their investments in China. U.S. Senator Bob Casey stated that this notification is necessary for the government to understand the transfer of “critical technology” to their “adversaries.”
