United States Senators have reportedly introduced a new bill to Congress to align the country with global crypto regulations. Senators Maggie Hassan and Joni Ernst introduced the bill intending to get America up to speed as per crypto regulations.
The new bill requires the United States Treasury Department to submit reports on the recent situation of the crypto regulatory space across the world. According to the bill’s sponsors, the Treasury must be knowledgeable about how virtual assets are affecting the traditional finance system globally. Hassan also pinpointed the security risks cryptos poses, referencing the cyberattacks on Colonial Pipeline in May.
Colonial Pipeline Hack
The Colonial Pipeline system was crippled in May by a ransomware attack. This shut down operations and affected gas supply chains across the U.S. Natural gas soared in various states, particularly Texas, California, and New York. The attack led to panic buying among the citizens.
After the FBI did some digging, it was discovered that the hackers were part of the Darkside Group, a Russia-linked group. The group demanded a $5M ransom in cryptos, of which Colonial Pipeline agreed to pay after a few hours of the hack.
Luckily, the U.S. partially recovered the funds in June, thanks to the FBI. The crime unit tracked down the transaction that occurred between Colonial Pipeline and the hackers. The country recovered about 63 BTC out of 75 that were paid to the hackers.
The Bill Aims to Have a Better Understanding of Cryptos
Senator Hassan revealed that the bill intends to know more about cryptocurrency before proceeding to form regulations. She expressed joy with partnering with her co-senator Ernst, adding that both will ensure that the Treasury Department is on top of cryptocurrency and everything related to it.
Last week, the U.S. Treasury penalized crypto exchange Suex for helping cybercriminals in laundering BTC ransoms received from victims. This has been the major reason the SEC has resolved to go after crypto platforms. Chair Gary Gensler said that although crypto platforms have benefits, several criminals take advantage of their decentralized nature to launder money, evade taxes, and finance terrorism and cybercrimes. Therefore, he called for stringent laws to clean up the space.
Earlier in September, financial experts and institutions, including the SEC and Treasury, held several meetings to discuss stablecoins and regulating them efficiently. Last week, the Treasury revealed it would release a paper on the outcomes of their meetings and what they hope to do while welcoming any idea or input from outsiders.