Syed Rahman explains why nobody can afford to be complacent when it comes to cryptocurrency

With the US at the forefront of efforts to regulate cryptocurrency, Syed Rahman wrote a piece, which featured on Law360, warning about the dangers of failing to comply with any obligations that are imposed.

His article outlines the guidance published on virtual currency by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The guidance makes it clear that those involved with cryptocurrency need to ensure that sanctioned individuals or organisations cannot use virtual currency to evade the measures that have been imposed on them.

The US’s newly-created National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) has been devised by the US Department of Justice specifically to investigate and prosecute the use of cryptocurrency for criminal gain. It will tackle ransomware use, money laundering, illegal or unregistered money services businesses and trading on ‘dark markets’ and will be involved in tracing assets lost through crypto-related criminal activity.

Syed argues that while cryptocurrency is an exciting new frontier, anyone involved in it must ensure that they are doing all that is required of them in order to ensure they do not fall foul of the law.

Syed's article featured on Law360. (Subscription required)