Our last 2 posts discussed INTERPOL’s new Silver Notices and how they relate to crypto, along with the current U.S. presidential administration’s reversal of crypto-related crime-fighting measures as the rest of the world seemingly increases their urgency. Today’s post focuses on the “why” of both Silver Notices and the new U.S. about-face on the issue of prosecuting crypto crimes.
Why Silver Notices could aid in identifying and capturing illicit funds related to crypto:
People choose cryptocurrencies over other currencies to aid in illicit activity because:
- Cryptocurrency is decentralized and distributed, which can offer a secure method to transfer value.
- A cryptocurrency transfer can occur anywhere. Third parties do not authorize transactions, and transactions cannot be reversed. Criminals from anywhere in the world can exploit these characteristics to facilitate large-scale, instantaneous cross-border transactions without traditional financial intermediaries that employ anti-money laundering programs.
- Law enforcement may encounter significant challenges when following cryptocurrency that enters other jurisdictions, especially those with lax anti-money laundering laws or regulations.
Silver Notices are meant to aid in the prosecution of such criminal actions, and can assist in country-to-country investigative efforts.
Why the U.S. President may have stifled crypto-related criminal investigations
Donald Trump’s family owns a large portion of World Liberty Financial, a crypto exchange that launched in October 2024. His venture into crypto products has reportedly increased his family’s wealth by billions in the last six months.
President Trump has pledged to turn the U.S. into the “crypto capital of the world,” while World Liberty Financial steadily expands into the cryptocurrency space. A stablecoin, a digital asset intended to maintain a consistent value by being tied to a reserve currency like the U.S. dollar, launched the by World Liberty Financial crypto venture is being used by an Abu Dhabi investment firm for its $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance.
At the same time, his administration continues to loosen the federal government’s regulatory approach to the digital currency industry as a whole. The group State Democracy Defenders Action estimated that the president’s crypto holdings now represent nearly 40% of his net worth – approximately $2.9 billion. Although critics have sounded the alarm over many actions by the Trump administration, none of the family’s other business endeavors pose conflicts of interest that compare to those that have emerged since the birth of World Liberty. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren characterized the U.S. change in approach to cryptocurrency: “This is corruption and no senator should support it.”
The decriminalization of crypto-crime adds danger to a space already prone to criminality due to its decentralized nature, lack of oversight, and the anonymity it provides. Without clear legal consequences, criminal actors may feel emboldened to exploit the system, putting U.S. investors and users at greater risk.
Each nation determines its own policies, meaning that U.S. leadership has limited influence over how other governments approach digital assets or related criminal activity. As INTERPOL’s new Silver Notices remind us, the international community is responding to crypto-criminality, and in a rapidly increasing global economy, one country’s decision to prosecute illicit activity can affect people and entities in other countries as well.
As always, thoughts and comments are welcomed.