Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Angus King (D-Maine) on Wednesday requested the Biden administration tips on how to deal with Iran’s use of cryptocurrency mining to avoid sanctions. We requested for info on whether or not the
“Iran has raised hundreds of thousands of {dollars} by way of mining cryptocurrencies, a gradual supply of revenue that enables it to purchase imported items, transfer funds domestically and internationally, and finance Hamas and different terrorist organizations.” stated the senators in a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the Treasury Department. Secretary of State Janet Yellen and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“Ongoing actions by the Iranian authorities threaten our nationwide safety,” they added.
Warren and King stated crypto mining – the method of verifying crypto transactions and minting new tokens – is “more and more profitable” for Iran, which faces quite a few U.S. and worldwide sanctions over its nuclear program. “There is,” he stated.
Bitcoin mining specifically pumped greater than $186 million into Iranian cryptocurrency platforms between 2015 and 2021, making Tehran among the many high eight Bitcoin producing nations as of 2021, the 2 males stated. acknowledged within the letter.
Warren and King urge the Biden administration to deal with Iran’s use of cryptocurrency mining, the extent to which it’s used to “finance terrorist organizations, navy operations, and weapons growth,” and the problem. We requested info on the measures the administration is taking to deal with this challenge.
Warren, one of the vital outspoken critics of cryptocurrencies in Congress, equally spoke out in a letter earlier this week with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) about sanctions avoidance by Russia, Iran, and North Korea. strain on the federal government concerning using digital foreign money for
In Monday’s letter, Warren and Marshall expressed explicit concern about Russia’s use of stablecoin Tether to acquire weapons for its conflict towards Ukraine, regardless of U.S. sanctions. expressed.
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