The FBI has issued a public service announcement today, warning Americans against using unregistered and non-Know Your Customer (KYC) cryptocurrency money transmitting services.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 FBI warns Americans against using non-KYC #Bitcoin and crypto money transmitting services. pic.twitter.com/BkSuG6MiCE
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 25, 2024
This announcement, identified as Alert Number I-042524-PSA, urged Americans to only engage with registered Money Services Businesses (MSBs) that comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.
According to United States federal law, cryptocurrency money transmitting services must be registered as MSBs and adhere to AML requirements (31 U.S.C. § 5330; 31 CFR §§ 1010; 1022). The FBI says failure to comply may result in financial disruptions during law enforcement actions, particularly if funds are mixed with illegally obtained money.
The warning clarified that services that knowingly facilitate illegal transactions or violate federal laws are subject to investigation by law enforcement agencies, and that individuals using such services may lose access to their funds during enforcement operations.
Just yesterday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested the founders and CEO of popular privacy focused Bitcoin wallet and mixer, Samourai Wallet, and charged them with laundering “more than $100 million in criminal proceeds.” The DOJ then worked with law enforcement in Portugal and Iceland to arrest one of the founders, and seized Samourai’s web servers and domain, in addition to serving a seizure warrant on the Google Play Store for its mobile app.