Last month, President Donald Trump signed a foreign sanctions bill that was widely supported by both Republicans and Democrats – only a handful of lawmakers opposed the legislation, including Senators Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders.
As everyone was concentrating on the president’s reaction and how the bill will punish the villains who dare meddle in American democracy, nearly everyone missed key components of the bill, including the quiet war against cryptocurrencies.
Simply put: the bill demands foreign governments to monitor circulations of cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and ethereum, that ostensibly finances terrorism.
Coinivore reported that the bill mandates governments to establish a “national security strategy” to fight terrorism financing and other types of illicit financing. This consists of monitoring data in illegal finance that includes “evolving forms of value transfer such as so-called cryptocurrencies.”
Here is the key part of the bill:
“[A] discussion of and data regarding trends in illicit finance, including evolving forms of value transfer such as so-called cryptocurrencies, other methods that are computer, telecommunications, or internet-based, cybercrime, or any other threats that the Secretary may choose to identify.”
Not only is the U.S. attempting to clamp down on digital currencies, it is also requiring foreign nations to do the same thing. Bitcoin, and other incarnations, are not shields against state intrusion.
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