FBI Director: Cryptocurrency Is 'Significant Issue' for Law Enforcement
Christoper Wray said crypto is becoming a "bigger and bigger" issue for the agency in a Senate hearing with Mitt Romney.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray says cryptocurrency is a “significant issue” that is likely to become a “bigger and bigger" problem for the law enforcement agency.
Speaking in front of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Wray responded to questions from U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) about cryptocurrency, law enforcement and terrorist deterrence, saying:
Wray supported Romney’s line of questioning concerning terrorist financing, saying that U.S. adversaries are becoming “more facile with technology and particular various types of technology that anonymize their efforts.”
It's not just crypto, however. Wray noted encryption is touching every aspect of emerging tech such as instant communications:
In 2018, the FBI said it had an estimated 130 cases involving crypto under investigation, from human trafficking to ransomware. And, this May, the FBI shut down DeepDotWeb, a dark web market place which solicited some services in cryptocurrency.
See the relevant excerpt from the hearing below:
Christopher Wray image and video via C-SPAN