Two days ago, Senator Roger Marshall withdrew his support for the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2023 (DAAMLA) sponsored and reintroduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren, targeting illegal use of cryptocurrency assets for money laundering and financing terrorism.
The Act was first introduced two years ago and then reintroduced on July 27, 2023. Some weeks after it was reintroduced, Warren published a press release noting that nine (9) senators joined cosponsors, including Gary Peters, Dick Durbin, Tina Smith, Angus King, Jeanne Shaheen, Bob Casey, Richard Blumenthal, Michael Bennet, and Catherine Cortez Masto.
The directory of the United States Congress shows that eighteen senators are currently co-sponsors. DAAMLA wants U.S. authorities to provide regulations that require financial institutions’ establishment of controls towards mitigating illegal finance risks associated with digital asset mixers, as well as anonymity-enhanced crypto and technologies.
Warren noted that the Act will facilitate the digital asset ecosystem’s compliance with anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AMF/CFT) frameworks.
The proposed Act was endorsed by the Bank Policy Institute, Massachusetts Bankers Association, Transparency International U.S., Global Financial Integrity, National District Attorneys Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association, AARP, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), and National Consumers League.
Five months ago, the Blockchain Association sent a letter to six members of the U.S. Congress, voicing their collective concerns over proposed legislation that could severely hinder digital asset development within the U.S. The coalition believes that DAAMLA threatens to hinder progress and stifle innovation within the digital asset space and that it is risky for the United States’ strategic advantage, as it is a threat to numerous U.S. jobs, and its impact on the illegal actors being targeted is little.
