The United States Department of Justice hired an experienced prosecutor from Cybercrime to lead his new national crime control team cryptocurrencies and announced Thursday that the FBI will launch a block chain analysis and seizure unit virtual assets.
The creation of the “virtual asset exploitation” unit at the FBI follows the largest financial seizure of the Justice Department.
Earlier this month, he charged a New York couple with alleged money laundering. bitcoins that were stolen in 2016 computer attack against the Bitfinex digital currency exchange and are now valued at more than $4.5 billion.
Local regulators, under the direction of the president Joe Bidenhave intensified their scrutiny of the cryptocurrencies following a series of high-profile cyberattacks last year against the largest network of United States oil pipelines and the world’s largest supplier of beef.
Groups using hijacking software, or “ransomware,” often demand payment in bitcoin.
In a speech delivered at the Cyber Security Conference from Munich, GermanyDeputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that Eun Young Choia prosecutor who led the case against a Russian hacker who helped steal information about more than 80 million Internet customers. JPMorgan & Chase Cowill lead the department’s cryptocurrency team.
