FBI warns it may cause ‘financial disruptions’
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has issued an alert warning Americans that it has “recently conducted law enforcement operations against cryptocurrency services which were not licensed in accordance with federal law” and that users “may encounter financial disruptions during law enforcement actions.”
These financial disruptions could include “losing access to funds after law enforcement operations target those businesses.”
Specifically, the alert warns against using any money services businesses (MSB) that are not appropriately registered, and further highlights the risk of those “that do not collect know your customer (KYC) information from customers.”
It’s not clear which recent law enforcement operations the alert is referring to but it comes on the heels of the recent indictment of the founders of the Samourai Wallet Bitcoin mixing service in the Southern District of New York.
Read more: What to do if you’ve used Samourai Wallet
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, recently also agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement related to financial crimes, including failure to appropriately enforce KYC requirements.
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