The United States got really worried over the threat posed by cryptocurrencies. For 10 years of the existence of digital money, the US Department of the Treasury has finally managed to form an opinion on it. The ministry views virtual currencies as an “evolving threat”. Though no bans are yet discussed, the Treasury is auditing major cryptocurrency providers in order to make sure that their activities are legitimate and law-abiding.
Speaking before the Congress, Under Secretary of the Treasury Sigal Mandelker said that there is every reason to be concerned over the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies in general and bitcoin in particular. Currently, the Treasury together with the Internal Revenue Service inspects 100 registered providers of cryptocurrency trading services – crypto exchanges, exchange offices, companies that hold ICOs, as well as other not registered entities.
At the same time, the ministry closely monitors the cryptocurrency market in order to detect cases of money laundering. At the end of her testimony, Mandelker said that the US government will aggressively pursue the dealers who ignore the official rules.
