Overview
- Submitting a 32-page GENIUS Act report to Congress, Treasury recommends a digital-asset–specific hold authority that would give exchanges statutory cover to temporarily retain funds tied to suspected illicit activity during investigations.
- Treasury for the first time explicitly notes that mixers can serve lawful privacy needs on public blockchains, including shielding personal finances, business dealings and charitable donations from broad public view.
- The report details how DPRK-linked hackers and major ransomware crews use mixers, cross-chain bridges and rapid swaps to launder billions in stolen crypto before converting or cashing out.
- Lawmakers are urged to clarify anti-money-laundering obligations for DeFi participants and to support a risk-based compliance toolkit built on AI, digital identity, blockchain analytics and standardized APIs.
- Industry and legal experts say a narrowly tailored hold power could give investigators crucial time, while warning of unresolved issues such as SAR tipping-off restrictions, potential liability and the limits of blockchain analytics, and noting that no such authority exists yet.