(RoyalPatriot.com )- The United States Secret Service has launched a new “crypto awareness hub” with the intention of raising public awareness about the “illicit use of digital assets.”
It comes at a time when legislators are exploring possible ways of regulating the cryptocurrency industry and potentially making it harder for people to choose decentralized currencies over traditional currencies.
In a video shared on the United States Secret Service YouTube page, the agency’s Investigations Assistant Director Jeremy Sheridan said that their new “hub” aims to identify, arrest, and prosecute anybody who is engaging in criminal activity involving the digital currency.
The hub’s new website even notes that cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more popular with people who wish to make transactions online, indicating that the U.S. federal government is very aware of the threat that it potentially poses to their power over America’s currency.
It also comes two years after the Secret Service launch its Cybercrime Task Force, which aims to identify cybercrime and go after hackers in the United States and across the globe.
A new focus on cryptocurrency means a couple of things.
First, it means that the federal government is taking cyberhacking seriously. Just since President Joe Biden took office, millions of dollars have been recovered by government task forces chasing after cyber hackers who blackmailed American companies into paying up to regain access to their stolen digital information.
Secondly, it suggests that the industry could become much more heavily regulated – potentially sending the value of cryptocurrencies plummeting as users are faced with increasing hurdles to purchase the currencies and make transactions online.
You can check out the launch video for the new task force below: