TRM Talks

On October 28, 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its Updated Guidance For A Risk Based Approach For Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Providers (guidance or final guidance). The guidance hit on some of the hottest topics in crypto including DeFi, NFTs, unhosted wallets, stablecoins and the travel rule.   Here are some takeaways:   When it comes to DeFi, you need to use...

Todd Conklin, Counselor to the Deputy Secretary, joined a special edition of TRM Talks to announce and explain the action: "New industry-specific guidance outlines sanctions compliance best practices tailored to the unique risks posed in this dynamic space, while new data from [FinCEN] shows the increasing threat ransomware posed to the U.S financial sector, businesses, and the public during the f...

For crypto exchanges and other digital asset service providers, the nuts and bolts of a robust compliance program are many — from FinCEN to FATF, SARS to subpoenas, transaction monitoring to the travel rule.  As legislators and regulators around the globe attempt to bring legal clarity to crypto, compliance teams are meanwhile tasked with understanding and applying current regulatory framewor...

Treasury officials offer additional commentary on their first crypto exchange action and advisory in an exclusive interview with TRM Labs.   U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took its first-ever action against a cryptocurrency exchange, SUEX.io, a concierge cryptocurrency exchanger incorporated in Czechia but operating in Russia. This action comes as the United States attempt...

The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security said recently, “As ransomware attacks continue to rise around the world, businesses and other organizations must prioritize their cybersecurity. Cybercriminals have targeted critical infrastructure, small businesses, hospitals, police departments, schools, and more." The White House has stressed the need to work with international partners and the private se...

The FBI was created in 1908 to address fast moving technological developments of the day. That same year Henry Ford's Model T began rolling off assembly lines making automobiles affordable to the masses and attractive to illicit actors who could drive cross country on violent crime sprees -- think Bonnie and Clyde. Indeed, it was cross-border technology that called for a national law enforcement e...

For decades, policymakers across the globe have increasingly used economic sanctions to disrupt terror networks, limit the spread of weapons of mass destruction, punish human rights violations, deter election interference, and isolate rogue regimes. While the United States, the European Union and the United Nations deploy sanctions differently, all three focus on one common goal - cutting off illi...

The state of Wyoming is known as the Wild West - a land of wide open spaces, the nation's most iconic national parks, and rodeo broncin' bucks. But Wyoming, over the last few years, has become known for something else - cryptocurrency. So how has Wyoming become the new frontier for financial innovation? It could be a forward leaning approach to chartering "crypto banks," favorable legislation that...

On January 6, 2021, the storming of the United States Capitol by a mix of rioters, hooligans, and militants, bent on upending the Democratic process, shined a spotlight on the already growing threat of Domestic Extremism. Domestic Extremism, motivated by an array of grievances, ideologies, and white supremacy is what the U.S. Department of Homeland Security called, in 2020, “the most persistent an...

The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS), for years, has been the tip of the spear for financial fraud investigations.   But in 2020, the IRS doubled down creating the Fraud Enforcement Office (OFE) focused on rooting out tax evasion, abusive tax avoidance scams and other malicious activity including the use of cryptocurrency to facilitate fraudulent activity. The OFE, part of IRS's Small Busines...

The concerns swirling around unhosted or self-hosted wallets and FinCEN's recent notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on the topic have captivated and consumed the cryptocurrency industry and regulators around the world. Unhosted wallets provoke questions of privacy and security at the heart of the promise of cryptocurrency.     In this episode, TRM Talks with Former DOJ Money Laund...

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) contains the most significant anti-money laundering legislation in decades and signals a seismic shift in the relationship between law enforcement, financial institutions and regulators. Not only does the NDAA require businesses to provide critical beneficial ownership information to regulators, but the legislation redefines currency to include cr...

Unhosted wallets, the travel rule, and DeFi, oh my!  The Biden Administration enters the cryptocurrency fray in an important moment for government and industry.  If this is the decade of crypto, what should we expect from the new administration? Watch this TRM Talk with Kristin Smith, Executive Director of the Blockchain Association and Jerry Brito, Executive Director of Coin Center as we discuss...

How in the world did the Department of Justice and the IRS seize $1 billion in Bitcoin? What happens now to the largest seizure of cryptocurrency in history? How do the very best agents and prosecutors conduct these complex investigations into webs of financial transactions that span the globe?   Tune into this episode of TRM Talks with former Assistant United States Attorney Zia Faruqui, IRS-CI S...

This month, the US Department of Justice published an 83-page Enforcement Framework.  The Report gives a detailed look at legitimate uses of cryptocurrencies, the risks of illicit activity, and federal enforcement challenges and strategies. In this TRM Talk with the Chair of the Crypto Enforcement Framework Task Force and former Associate Deputy Attorney General Sujit Raman, Jessie K. Liu, former...

Every other week, TRM’s Global Head of Policy, Ari Redbord, sits down with business leaders, policy makers, and investigators from across the globe to talk about the key crypto policy, regulatory and enforcement issues of the day.