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A U.S. congressman has urged Vice President Joe Biden's administration to adopt a "strong strategy" to prevent cryptocurrency from being used to circumvent sanctions. Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), a prominent member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has taken various steps to prevent cryptocurrency from being used to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
'Robust Strategy' to Prevent Crypto Use to Evade Sanctions
U.S. Representative Michael McCaul issued a statement,
"Emerging technologies like cryptocurrency offer many positive applications like humanitarian relief, but the administration has not kept pace in ensuring this novel form of currency is not used to the detriment of U.S. national security,"
Last month, Rep. McCaul wrote to President Joe Biden, expressing his concern about "Russia's potential exploitation of emerging technology like cryptocurrencies to avoid sanctions." He mentioned "an expected U.N. report on North Korea's nuclear programme being funded with stolen bitcoins." Biden has not responded to him. Following her appearance before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence about how her department will deal with cryptocurrency-related sanctions evasion, the legislator issued a similar letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. Earlier this month, McCaul introduced the Russia Cryptocurrency Transparency Act with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-NY). The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill with bipartisan support.
According to the bill, the legislation will "ensure that the United States is taking the appropriate actions to prevent these developing technologies from being utilized to escape U.S. sanctions".