Danielle, When it comes to banking policy, I don't usually find myself agreeing with the CEOs of multi-billion-dollar banks. Wednesday was an exception. The heads of some of America's biggest banks — we're talking JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and so on — came before the Senate Banking Committee. I asked them whether the same anti-money-laundering rules they have to follow should also apply to crypto. Right down the line, they all said "absolutely." Jamie Dimon threw in a "positively" and a "certainly" for good measure. That was a nice touch. The fact that big bank CEOs and I are all on the same page on this one just goes to show how glaring of a problem we're facing. It's a matter of fairness, but it's also a matter of national security. Criminals use crypto to finance terrorists, drug traffickers, and sanctioned countries, like Russia and Iran and North Korea. They couldn't use regular banks, because regular banks are required to have systems in place to track and shut down those transactions. But crypto's loopholes let them stay in the shadows, trading billions of dollars with complete anonymity. Crypto firms should have to follow the same anti-money-laundering standards as banks, stockbrokers, credit card companies, Venmo, Western Union, and all other financial institutions. And I've got a bipartisan bill for that: the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act. It is the toughest proposal on the table to crack down on crypto crime and give regulators the tools they need to stop the flow of crypto to bad actors. But crypto lobbyists are working overtime to block reform. They claim crypto is special. So special that they deserve special exceptions from basic rules of the road. They claim they shouldn't have to comply with standard regulations, even if that means letting terrorists, drug traffickers, ransomware criminals, rogue nations move billions of dollars totally unrestricted. Crypto doesn't get a pass to help the world's worst criminals, no matter how special they think they are. To pass this bill, Washington needs to hear that the American people are calling for change. Please add your name to say you support making crypto firms follow the same anti-money-laundering rules as banks. Jamie Dimon agrees — do you? Thanks for being a part of this, Elizabeth |
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