Brian Nelson, Undersecretary of the United States Department of the Treasury, disagrees that cryptocurrencies are the primary means for bad actors to conduct illicit activities.
Cryptocurrencies have been under attack for years for the possibility of being used to commit financial crimes.
Regulators and government officials believe that these digital assets are an ideal means to help bad actors and cybercriminals launder money, finance terrorist acts, and commit other crimes.
However, US Treasury Department Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) Brian Nelson disagrees with this narrative.
During a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Nelson defended cryptocurrencies and debunked the theory that digital assets are being used as a primary medium by the Hamas group to finance their terrorist acts.
According to the Undersecretary of the Treasury, the Hamas group has received very little support in cryptocurrencies, contradicting reports that indicate that this group has been financed mainly with crypto assets.
An exaggerated narrative
Undersecretary Brian Nelson has joined the many voices refuting the narrative of cryptocurrencies as the primary means of financing bad actors.
Reports such as those recently published by Chainalysis and Elliptic deny that cryptoassets play a prominent role in illicit activities, mainly due to the transparency offered by its underlying technology to track transactions.
The blockchain, the technology that underpins most of the cryptocurrencies that exist on the market, allows any transaction made to be tracked. Because of this, the Undersecretary of the Treasury emphasized that terrorist groups actually have their eyes set on other means that are more efficient and secure for them to obtain financing.
“To be clear, Hamas is using cryptocurrencies in relatively small amounts, compared to what has been widely reported,” said Brian Nelson.
Also, during the the hearing, the undersecretary highlighted that it is traditional products and services that clearly serve as instruments for bad actors.
In 2022, the Treasury Department published a report titled “National Money Laundering Risk Assessment”, in which he recognizes that they are fiat currencies, such as the US dollar, which are used in most financial crimes and illicit activities. All this, despite the growth and popularity that cryptocurrencies have gained in the world.
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