Congressman Proposes Bill to Ban Crypto Mixing Protocols, Threatening Privacy Coins

• The Blockchain Integrity Act bans financial services from processing transactions from coin mixers and stipulates a $100,000 civil penalty for offenders.
• The bill proposes the ban to last two years, during which the Department of the Treasury would compile a report on the sector to inform further actions.

A new bill introduced at the US House of Representatives seeks to ban cryptocurrency mixers for two years, cutting them off from all registered virtual asset service providers (VASPs) for two years.

Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) introduced the Blockchain Integrity Act, which is co-sponsored by Reps Brad Sherman (CA-32), Bill Foster (IL-11) and Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05).

The bill is the latest attempt by the US government to clamp down on mixers. For years, the government has been attempting to curb mixer usage. In some of its more drastic efforts, the Justice Department charged the founders of Tornado Cash, the most popular mixer, with money laundering and sanctions violations. Two Tornado Cash developers were arrested and released on bail; they have been fighting the charges since, as Crypto News Flash reported.

The new bill seeks to further clamp down on mixers. It states that six months after it takes effect, it will be illegal for any registered financial institution to handle funds routed through a mixer.

Congressman Casten described mixers as “key to allowing illicit actors to instantaneously move massive amounts of money around the globe for criminal purposes without detection.”

He added:

Cryptocurrency has been used to finance terrorist attacks around the world. Half of North Korea’s nuclear program is funded through cryptocurrency theft made possible by mixers. A temporary ban while we study this technology will help us better understand how it is used for illicit purposes, prevent future crypto-funded terrorism, and inform future policymaking.

New Bill Cracks Down on Crypto Mixers, Privacy Coins

The bill requires the Treasury Department to partner with the SEC, CFTC and the Attorney General to study the sector in the two years before mixers are banned.

This study shall extend beyond mixers and into anonymous cryptocurrencies. It requires a study on the percentage of mixed crypto and privacy coins that go to illegal activities and the government’s ability to track and freeze such assets.

The lawmakers gave Binance as an example, which allegedly processed over $250 million from Bestmixer, a Dutch coin mixer that was shut down in 2019 by authorities for facilitating crime.

Congressman Sherman commented:

Cryptocurrency’s intention is right there in its name, a form of ‘hidden money,’ and there is no tool more useful in facilitating that goal than crypto mixers. Terrorist groups, sanction evaders, tax evaders, cybercriminals, etc., all use mixers to obscure their illicit activity.

While the lawmakers relegate crypto to a crime haven, it’s important to note that blockchain analysis from multiple reputable companies has proven that crime makes up only a tiny percentage of crypto volume. Last year, crime only accounted for 0.34% of total crypto volume.