US DOJ wants more international collaboration to fight crypto crime

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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has called for more international collaboration and sharing of information about crypto crimes to protect investors, businesses, and consumers using digital assets in its latest report.

According to the report, the DoJ said that international collaborations will help to prevent “duplicative efforts that waste investigative resources.”

The DOJ collaborated with other regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies to produce the report.

The report states that it is more difficult to prosecute crimes committed with cryptocurrencies than those with paper currencies because of the anonymity offered by these assets.

Part of the report reads:

Criminal actors (can) leverage the innovation, claims of decentralization, and anonymizing features of cryptocurrencies to facilitate criminal conduct in all corners of the world.

So, the US needs to collaborate with other countries to enforce effective regulation and supervision of the industry as a lack of compliance measures could expose the US to criminals while also placing the international financial system at risk.

Some challenges facing international collaboration

The 58-page document notes that the willingness and ability of foreign law enforcement agencies to work with the US on digital assets crimes will depend on their regulations and jurisdictions.

Currently, there are differences in how each legal system treats digital assets, which might complicate any collaborative efforts between the US and its foreign partners.

Beyond that, it also identified the limited technological and technical expertise in many countries as a limitation.

However, the report claims that the US law enforcement agencies are trying to address these challenges by developing and sharing expertise with partners and being involved in efforts to set global standards and the works of other agencies.

The report offers recommendations to strengthen enforcement and improve international
cooperation by increasing foreign counterparts’ capacity to conduct more complex and specialized investigations, sharing more information, and implementing international standards in the digital assets space.

Crypto provides law agencies opportunities to investigate properly

While conceding that many crimes could be committed with crypto easily, the report also revealed that the technology behind the assets provides an opportunity for law enforcement to investigate appropriately.

According to the report, since crypto transactions are “permanently recorded on distributed ledgers publicly available on the Internet,” authorities can track the funds in ways that are not possible with the traditional financial systems.