DOJ’s crypto approach slammed while Brazil hits $6B in crypto
Discover the latest news in the crypto world: from the DOJ facing criticism over its crypto approach, to Brazil's milestone of $6 billion in crypto trading.
DOJ’s crypto approach criticised; Brazil hits $6B in crypto trading
Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden slam the US Justice Department's (DOJ) approach to governing crypto. They expressed worries that the department has broadened its scope to include crypto mixers in the past months.
Key takeaways
- US Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden expressed worries over the DOJ’s expansion of money transmission after the department accused two crypto mixers.
- Brazil’s crypto trading volume skyrocketed to $6 billion in the early months of 2024 which was a 30% increase from 2023. Stablecoins are also more popular in the country than Bitcoin (BTC) and other coins.
Wyden and Lummis conveyed their grave concerns to US Attorney General Merrick Garland through a letter. They worried about the DOJ's broadening of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCen) definition of money transmission.
‘I’m concerned the DOJ’s understanding would treat software developers as criminals for merely writing and publishing code used by others – a dangerous precedent that contradicts decades of settled law and raises serious First Amendment concerns’, Wyden said.
This follows the DOJ's claims that Samourai Wallet and Tornado Cash, two cryptocurrency mixers, operated illegal money transmission businesses. The claims shook the crypto world, receiving mixed thoughts from crypto users who play Bitcoin casino games at casinos like Gamdom.
Wyden and Lummis said that a 'money transmitting service' must accept currency, funds, or value as stated in the Bank Secrecy Act and reflected in FinCEN standards. They supported this claim in their letter which stated that FinCEN's description of money transmissions fails to account for non-custodial crypto service providers.
‘At no point when operating or providing non-custodial services do such service providers “accept” crypto assets from their users’, they said. Wyden and Lummis referenced the DOJ’s issuance of a response brief against the crypto service Tornado Cash developers in April 2024.
In 2023, prosecutors also charged Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, co-founders of Tornado Cash, with conspiracy to launder money, violate sanctions, and operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Many crypto groups including the Coin Centre have joined in condemning the DOJ's definition of non-custodial wallet developers as money transmitters. They claim that the definition is an unusual view of the law.
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Brazil reaches $6 billion in crypto trading in 2024
The number of crypto trades has gone through the roof in Brazil's first months of 2024. Kaiko Research, a crypto data-driven research company, says that digital currency trade in the country is 30% higher than it was in 2023.
From January to early May 2024, the volume of crypto transactions in Brazilian real reached $6 billion. Kaiko says the nation has emerged as the major market in Latin America and the 7th-largest globally in terms of fiat currency exchange as of 2024.
Crypto trading in the Mexican peso was worth $3.7 billion in the first four months of 2024 while trading in the Argentine peso was around $300 million. In the country, stablecoins are also becoming more popular than Bitcoin (BTC).
Kaiko says that almost half of all trades in 2024 featured stablecoins. Since the 2021 bull market, Tether's (USDT) market share has grown by almost 20%.
With some senators becoming more active in promoting sound crypto governance, crypto users are starting to see a brighter future for the market. Signs of crypto growth in countries like Brazil further boost crypto’s appeal worldwide.
