Elizabeth Rosenberg, assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the U.S. Treasury Department, told Warren that the drug brokers likely relied on the pseudonymous nature of crypto transactions for payments. Rosenberg confirmed Warren’s sentiment that crypto was one of the major payment methods for Chinese companies.
The Massachusetts senator said she planned to reintroduce legislation aimed at addressing some of the regulatory gaps affecting these payments to companies engaged in the illegal drug trade. Warren first introduced the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act in 2022 and has“Congress has talked about fentanyl long enough. We propose to do something to fight back.”
In a May 31 hearing of the United States Senate Banking Committee on China, Warren pointed to a report from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic to suggest a connection between cryptocurrency and “illegal drug transactions” at Chinese companies.