Now that cartels are designated as terrorist organizations, prosecutors can go beyond the traditional drug and money-laundering statutes and rely on criminal anti-terrorism statutes like 18 U.S.C.§ 2339B — the material-support statute — to investigate cartels and anyone who they believe “knowingly provides material support or resources” to the designated cartels. Why should the crypto industry be concerned with these developments?
Because “material support or resources” is not just limited to providing physical weapons to terrorists.“Material support or resources” is broadly defined as “any property, tangible or intangible, or service.” Anyone who knowingly provides anything of value to a designated cartel could now conceivably violate § 2339B. Even though cryptocurrency platforms are not financial institutions and never take custody of users’ assets, aggressive prosecutors may take the hardline view that software developers who design crypto platforms — and those who fund these protocols — are providing “material support or resources” to terrorists and launch harmful investigations against them.
After Binance and its founder pled guilty to criminal charges in late 2023, US victims of the Oct.7 Hamas attack in Israel sued Binance and its founder under the ATA, alleging that the defendants knowingly provided a “mechanism for Hamas and other terrorist groups to raise funds and transact illicit business in support of terrorist activities” and that Binance processed nearly $60 million in crypto transactions for these terrorists.
or
Share This Story
Article Details
Author / Journalist: Cointelegraph by Genny Ngai and Will Roth
The story "Trump’s focus on cartels highlights new risks for digital assets" has 908 words across 37 sentences, which will take approximately 4 - 8 minutes for the average person to read.
Which news outlet covered this story?
The story "Trump’s focus on cartels highlights new risks for digital assets" was covered 1 days ago by Coin Telegraph, a news publisher based in United States.
How trustworthy is 'Coin Telegraph' news outlet?
Coin Telegraph is a fully independent (privately-owned) news outlet established in 2013 that covers mostly crypto news.
The outlet is headquartered in United States and publishes an average of 36 news stories per day.
It's most recent story was published 7 hours ago.
What do people currently think of this news story?
The sentiment for this story is currently Negative, indicating that people regard this as "bad news".
How do I report this news for inaccuracy?
You can report an inaccurate news publication to us via our contact page. Please also include the news #ID number and the URL to this story.
