It has been a good year for cryptocurrencies and digital assets as more and more countries and institutions are willing to adopt them. El Salvador has accepted Bitcoin as a legal trade and other developing countries will likely do so in the future.
While the crypto sector has seen progress, there is also the other side of the coin. The crypto assets seem to be a cause of concern for Biden’s administration.
A sanctions report has been released by the US Treasury Department where the digital assets are also discussed, among other issues.
The efficiency of American sanctions is undermined by the advancement of technology, such as digital assets, digital payment platforms, and alternative ways of hiding cross-border transactions, as stated by the official report.
These digitized factors allow potential malicious actors to store and transfer funds outside the traditional financial system. Moreover, the digital asset is the biggest threat to the US dollar as it would no longer have the significant role it has now, concludes the report.
In the international trade market, the US Dollar is the main currency of trade and the US has levied about 9,000 sections against countries and institutions found to be in violation of various regulations.
On the other hand, cryptocurrencies have grown in popularity among sanctioned countries and are slowly making their way on these trade settlements.
Iran is one of the latest countries that is willing to adopt Bitcoin for international trade transactions.
US Treasury to Learn More About Digital Assets
The report did consider digital assets as potential threats, however, the solution could be to enhance the department’s expertise on emerging digital assets and services.
Thus, the US Treasury Department is interested to be more informed on this section in order to fully support the whole sanctions lifecycle of activities, according to the report.
The Biden administration was among the first to take ransomware seriously and take preventive measures against it. It didn’t stop with issuing warnings against such assaults but also sanctioned a Russian exchange after roughly $590 million in crypto ransom was paid in 2021 alone.
More than $5 billion in Bitcoin ransom payments have been traced by the US Treasury Department over the last decade.
Also Read: These Are the Five Countries That Will Accept BTC as Legal Tender Before 2022