On June 23, 2017, Steptoe’s Blockchain Blog published a piece about the implications of the Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017, S. 1241. The Senate bill was introduced by Senator Grassley (R-IA), along with Senators Feinstein (D-CA), Cornyn (R-TX), and Whitehouse (D-RI), and aims to strengthen criminal money laundering statues, particularly in fighting terrorism and terror finance. The issue of potential links between terrorist financing and money laundering, and government knowledge of these links, has become an increasingly important topic in Congress, with both houses looking further into the issue. On June 8, 2017, the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance held a hearing titled “Virtual Currency: Financial Innovation and National Security Implications.”
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