Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) criticized North Korea's use of cryptocurrencies and the rise in crypto “pig butchering” scams during a military Senate hearing on Thursday, calling cryptocurrencies as a whole a “threat to national security.” ”, he claimed.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren blasts cryptocurrencies, blames North Korea
Question Admiral John C. Aquilino of the US Indo-Pacific Command has claimed that North Korea could pay for more than 56 intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2022 with $1.7 billion worth of stolen cryptocurrencies.
Asked by Warren if he was surprised by the numbers, Aquilino admitted he wasn't.
North Korea has long been known for its crypto-malware groups, with state-sponsored hacking group Lazarus Group and crypto mixer Sinbad sanctioned. By the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in November 2023. For illegal activities.
“[Cryptocurrency]is supporting rogue states,” Warren said. “It's helping terrorists. This is helping criminal organizations finance their operations on a scale never seen before.”
However, blockchain intelligence companies Chainalysis’ 2024 Crypto Crime Report found that funds sent to crypto mixers from illicit addresses decreased by nearly $500 million last year “probably due to law enforcement and regulatory efforts.”
Senate hearing on pig slaughter scam, etc.
However, Warren's criticism of cryptocurrencies goes beyond North Korea. The senator argued in Thursday's testimony: “As we know, more than 40,000 people in the United States lost more than $3.5 billion to pig slaughter crypto scams last year alone.”
Perpetrators involved in “pig butchering” common throughout Southeast Asia Abuse of a victim's trust in order to increase the amount of funds transferred by a particular victim.
“Pig butchering is just a scam,” Warren continued. “There are many more. A recent investigation found that these criminal organizations have stolen and laundered more than $75 billion in cryptocurrencies in the last four years alone.”
While not everyone may agree with Sen. Elizabeth Warren as she criticizes cryptocurrencies, she paints a vivid picture of the far-reaching effects of crypto-related crimes.
Warren promotes DAAMLA again
Additionally, Sen. Elizabeth Warren used the hearing to promote a bipartisan bill known as the Digital Assets Money Laundering Prevention Act (DAAMLA). The bill aims to close loopholes in counterterrorism financing while exposing major players in the digital asset industry to tighter regulation.
“I have a bipartisan Republican and Democratic bill with 20 senators to block this,” she said. “I think it's time to pass this bill.”
The senator's comments come amid heightened debate over cryptocurrency regulation in light of last October's terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis.
As Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticizes cryptocurrencies and pushes for increased oversight, she faces a formidable challenger in the upcoming Senate race in pro-cryptocurrency Republican candidate John Deaton.
