Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Elizabeth Warren’s new crypto bill sent shockwaves through the industry. Here’s what it could mean

Elizabeth Warren’s new crypto bill sent shockwaves through the industry. Here’s what it could mean

The money laundering-focused legislation could change the entire ecosystem.

On Dec. 14, as the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the collapse of FTX, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was late to take her seat.

As one of the highest-profile members of the committee—and an outspoken critic of crypto—it seemed unlikely she would miss the event, with witnesses including celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary and TV-star-turned-crypto-critic Ben McKenzie.

A flurry of legislative activity may have caused her delay. Earlier that day, Warren introduced a bill with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kans.) called the “Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022,” which aims to increase financial requirements for crypto.

When Warren eventually took her seat at the hearing, her remarks were not about FTX, but instead the focus of her bill: the ways that crypto facilitates global crime.

“Crypto has become the preferred tool for terrorists, for ransomware gangs, for drug dealers, or rogue states that want to launder money,” she said.

Her bill drew immediate pushback from the industry, with the think tank Coin Center publishing a rebuttal describing it as “the most direct attack on the personal freedom and privacy of cryptocurrency users and developers we’ve yet seen.”

“Through our entire financial system, we operate on a principle that says: same kind of transaction, same kind of risks, same set of rules,” a Warren spokesperson told Fortune. “There is no reason that cryptocurrencies should be held to a lower standard that creates loopholes for criminals to launder money and finance terrorism.”

The crux of the bill brings know-your-customer rules to different players in the ecosystem—including wallet providers, miners, and node operators—and prohibits financial institutions from using privacy tools such as Tornado Cash and Monero.

Patrick Daugherty a lawyer who directs the digital assets and Web3 practice at Foley & Lardner, and teaches at Cornell Law School, discussed the pros and cons of the bill with Fortune.

On the positive side, it empowers federal financial regulatory agencies including the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to audit “money services businesses” for compliance.

Given the failure of FTX, Daugherty described this as the “one correct step to make,” just as the Bernie Madoff scandal created a new unit within the SEC to audit investment advisers.

On the negative side, Daugherty said that the bill overreaches in its definition of what constitutes a “money service business.” For Warren and Marshall, this could include miners, validators, and even wallet providers. As Daugherty pointed out, that could mean hardware manufacturers like Ledger.

Under the bill, these entities would have to identify customers and track their transactions, ensuring their compliance with anti-money laundering programs.

For Daugherty, banning privacy tools is a mixed bag. After the Treasury Department’s crackdown on Tornado Cash in August, regulatory clarity is desperately needed, but a total prohibition may go too far.


What’s the opposition?

Warren has long been a bogeyman for the crypto industry. Her recent bill isn’t even the first this year seeking to crack down on crypto’s role in money laundering. In March, she introduced a bill aimed at bolstering sanctions against Russia through imposing restrictions on the broader crypto ecosystem, which critics similarly called an overreach.

Coin Center’s Peter Van Valkenburgh described the recent bill as unconstitutional in two regards. The anti-privacy measures, he wrote, would violate the First Amendment by making it impossible for users to make anonymous payments, including political donations. And the bill may be deemed unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment by “deputizing” software developers and miners to collect and report private information with a warrant.

In the bigger picture, the bill repudiates many of the core tenets of cryptocurrency—reducing the privacy elements of the ecosystem and treating its “decentralized” participants, such as miners and node operators, as centralized figures responsible for a network’s actions.

As Daugherty told Fortune, these elements of the bill could be viewed as either a bug or a feature.

“If you don't trust crypto assets at all, or if you have some philosophical opposition to them," he said, “then you will probably regard these as features.”


What's the upside?

Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University and one of the witnesses at the Senate Banking hearing last week, said that the bill closes loopholes created by crypto.

“There’s this sense in the space that technology is entirely detached from any human activity,” she told Fortune. “Software is written by people, and technology is administered by people.”

Even though advocates may argue that participants like wallet providers and validators aren't linked to transactions, Allen said they shouldn't be exempt from money laundering laws.

“If you create a technology loophole in the law, then everybody will exploit that loophole,” she added.

Allen's views reflect a skepticism that groups within the crypto ecosystem are truly decentralized—some miners, for instance, are large companies.

Crypto skeptics in Congress have said they want to ensure crypto doesn’t become intertwined with the traditional financial system, a trend that has already begun with institutions like BNY Mellon moving into the space. Allen said strict anti-money laundering laws imposed on the broader crypto ecosystem could keep it separated from traditional finance.


What about legal challenges?

“It’s unsurprising that the crypto industry is making meritless legal arguments to deflect responsibility to follow common sense anti-money laundering rules,” said the Warren spokesperson.

Allen similarly described Coin Center’s argument as “self-serving,” but there is still the open question of what would happen if the bill became law and was challenged in the court system.

With the Supreme Court’s rightward shift, there is a heavy cloud hanging over the administrative state. In this year’s landmark West Virginia v. Enviromental Protection Agency case, the Supreme Court restricted the ability of federal agencies to regulate based on congressional authorization.

If the digital assets bill became law, it would be an actual statute, not just agency action. Even so, as Allen told Fortune, the agencies would have to engage in interpretation to implement the law, which would likely end up challenged in court.


What's next?

Warren and Marshall introduced the bill into the Senate Banking Committee with the intention to re-introduce the bill during the next congressional session beginning in January.

“Senator Warren will continue working in the next Congress to pass this bipartisan legislation into law,” said the Warren spokesperson.

The bill will join a crowded field of crypto legislation. Rather than putting investor protection against free market ideals, Allen said the bill could draw bipartisan support by focusing on national security. She described it as “low-hanging fruit.”

“It’s allowed common cause to be made here,” she told Fortune.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump fires director of U.S. Copyright Office, sources say
Retired British police officer arrested over ‘thought crime’ tweet
Cardinal Robert Prevost Elected as Pope Leo XIV, Marking a Historic Papacy
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested at ICE Facility Amid Congressional Visit
India-Pakistan conflict may be first test for Chinese military tech
Bill Gates Announces Plan to Wind Down Philanthropic Foundation and Disperse Wealth
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
×