The Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States has announced the launch of a nationwide Digital Asset Coordinator (DAC) Network. The department has also published its latest report in response to President Joe Biden’s March executive order (EO) on the development of digital assets on September 16.
The report titled, “Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets” classifies the various ways in which crypto is used illegally and the legal reforms required to reduce crimes in the crypto industry.
This is the second report and complements its counterpart published in June. The report examines the efforts of various federal departments and agencies to counter crime involving digital assets and recommends a variety of measures to enhance law enforcement efforts.
The report suggests that the laws which prevent employees of financial institutions from tipping off suspects to ongoing investigations be extended to virtual assert service providers.
The report also suggests strengthening the law criminalising the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses and extending the statute of limitations for certain offences.
The report suggests changes to the preservation and provision of evidence and recommends strengthening penalties and other changes to laws, especially the Bank Secrecy Act. It also demands “adequate resources” to conduct these investigations.
The DAC network will be headed by the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), which was formed in February this year, which was announced last year.
The DAC network is made up of over 150 federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide and the DOJ’s litigating components.
This group of prosecutors will act as their office’s subject-matter expert on digital assets and will be responsible for raising awareness about the international implications of the crypto ecosystem.
The DAC network is expected to be “the department’s primary forum” for training and guidance on investigating and prosecuting digital asset crimes.
