US DOJ Is Now Targeting Crypto Exchanges

By Kevin • May 17, 2023 10:44 am • Comments

Recently, an official from the US Department of Justice has public stated that crypto crime has increased tremendously over the past few years.

In an effort to combat this, the official revealed that they will be looking to target platforms that are involved in such crimes or allow them to happen on their platform.

The extent of what the Department of Justice will do is still ultimately unknown, but many expect them to do similar enforcement actions like what the SEC is doing right now.

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The DOJ will be more focused on crypto exchanges which may ultimately affect a lot of crypto investors and traders, especially if the exchanges they use get targeted.

Some fear that this will continue to drive exchanges overseas as many exchanges such as Coinbase have recently setup overseas operations.

Watcher.guru reports:

“We’re seeing the scale and the scope of digital assets being used in a variety of illicit ways grow significantly over the last, say, four years. I think that is concurrent with the increase of its adoption by the public writ large.”

Furthermore, Choi said that the increased scrutiny of platforms would “send a deterrent message” to businesses that are flouting rules.

If a company “has amassed a significant market share in part because they’re flaunting U.S. criminal law”, the DoJ cannot “be in a position where we give someone a pass because they’re saying, ‘Well, now we’ve grown to be too big to fail,’” the official said.

Alongside crypto exchanges and companies, the DOJ is also focusing on thefts and hacks involving DeFi. Specifically, it is eying “chain bridges.”

It is clear that clear rules and regulatory guidelines need to established as soon as possible as many crypto firms within the US are facing to much uncertainty right now.

As a result, it impacts the growth of the crypto industry and digital asset investors that are located within the region.

Unfortunately, local agencies seem to continue to target crypto firms and the government has not provided a favorable stance for crypto in the past year.

At the same time, however, the crypto markets have still managed to grow indicating that there is increased institutional demand despite the regulatory uncertainty.

Bitcoin.com concludes:

However, despite crypto exchanges’ threats to pull out of the country, Choi suggested the crackdown is necessary in order to stop criminal elements from using crypto to achieve their objective.

“We’re seeing the scale and the scope of digital assets being used in a variety of illicit ways grow significantly over the last, say, four years,” Choi said.

In addition to targeting crypto exchanges, Choi’s crypto unit within the DOJ is also targeting investment scams.

According to the report, in April alone the department seized crypto assets worth more than $112 million which it said were related to such scams.

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