Coinbase and Circle executives called on U.S. authorities to step up action against Tether and other offshore crypto companies that do not comply with regulations.
Grant Leben, Coinbase's head of financial crimes legal affairs, in a session with the House Financial Services Committee on circumventing the strict anti-money laundering (AML) standards that apply to regulated exchanges in the United States. We discussed the issue of criminals abusing foreign platforms for their own purposes. .
Laben mentioned Only 560 crypto addresses have been approved by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). However, Coinbase's research found that more than 8 million addresses were associated with bad actors. Laben blamed offshore exchanges for crypto-related criminal activity and money laundering in the United States and called on the government to go after these platforms.
“Offshore entities often play whack-a-mole with jurisdictions in an attempt to circumvent strict AML laws, hoping that regulators won’t care.”
– Grant Rabenn, Head of Financial Crimes Legal Affairs at Coinbase
Mr. Leben emphasized the importance of the United States pursuing these non-compliant entities using all regulatory tools and expressed support for recent enforcement actions in the cryptocurrency space that highlight the need for accountability.
caroline hill, Head of Global Policy and Regulatory Strategy at Circle, advocated for strict oversight of entities linked to the US dollar and particularly emphasized the importance of incorporating democratic principles into US dollar-backed stablecoins. Mr Hill called on the government to use existing powers to address his involvement in facilitating financial crime, with particular reference to Tether's main controller, Cantor Fitzgerald.
“Given this point of contact with the United States, I think the Treasury Department has the authority to take action against Tether. I hope the Treasury Department is seriously considering this issue.”
– caroline hillHead of Global Policy and Regulatory Strategy, Circle
He further expressed concern about the practices of stablecoin issuers, particularly those that do not take proactive measures such as smart contract technology to prevent the misuse of their tokens.
