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Our Chief Legal Officer, Sujit Raman, was recently featured on the State Secrets podcast from The Cipher Brief 🎙️ He discusses how the private sector is working with government to address some of today’s most pressing national security challenges, as well as how legal professionals can help bridge gaps between government and the private sector. Listen to his full episode here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eUKMQhpV

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a superseding indictment charging Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel with conspiring with money laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banks known to launder drug trafficking proceeds. During the conspiracy, more than USD 50 million in drug proceeds flowed between the Sinaloa Cartel associates and Chinese underground money exchanges. The superseding indictment alleges that a Sinaloa Cartel-linked money laundering network collected and—with help from a LA-based money transmitting group with links to Chinese underground banking—processed large amounts of drug proceeds in US currency in the Los Angeles area. They then concealed their drug trafficking proceeds and made the proceeds generated in the United States accessible to cartel members in Mexico and elsewhere. Lead defendant Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes—45, of East Los Angeles—and others allegedly used a variety of methods to hide the money’s source, including trade-based money laundering, “structuring” assets to avoid federal financial reporting requirements, and the purchase of cryptocurrency. As part of this investigation, law enforcement seized approximately USD 5 million in narcotics proceeds, 302 pounds of cocaine, 92 pounds of methamphetamine, 3,000 Ecstasy pills, 44 pounds of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), numerous ounces of ketamine, three semi-automatic rifles with high-capacity magazines, and eight semi-automatic handguns. This case, and other recent cases like it involving the Sinaloa Cartel and Chinese money laundering networks, are examples of global law enforcement coordination. The Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and US state and local police departments worked together with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Mexican and Chinese authorities to investigate and disrupt global narcotics trafficking and money laundering networks.  

It’s the last Thursday of the month—and it’s proven to be a busy week across the #cryptoverse! In this edition of 🗞️ The Weekly Roundup, Ari Redbord, Isabella Chase, and Angela Ang walk us through these top stories: 🗳️ In the United States: VP Kamala Harris quiet on crypto 📑 TRM releases new sanctions compliance paper ahead of next week’s webinar with Kraken and Zodia Custody 🇪🇺 Europol publishes its 2024 “Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment” 🇰🇷 Bank of Korea shares plan to collect data from VASPs 🇦🇺 Digital currencies pose increasing money laundering risk in Australia 🇷🇺 New report from TRM reveals Russian-speaking groups dominate ransomware If you’re enjoying the Weekly Roundup, be sure to like, share, and encourage your peers to subscribe. You can also drop our team of policy experts a comment any time—we’d love to hear from you!

From ransomware groups to illicit marketplace operators, Russian-speaking threat actors have become a ubiquitous force in international crypto crime. ▪️ Russian-speaking ransomware groups accounted for at least 69% of all crypto proceeds from ransomware in 2023 ▪️ Russian-language darknet markets comprised 95% of all crypto-denominated illicit drug sales on the dark web in 2023 ▪️ Inflows to Garantex (a Russia-based crypto exchange) accounted for 82% of crypto volumes belonging to all sanctioned entities internationally Our latest report explores recent trends in the Russian-speaking illicit #crypto ecosystem, leveraging blockchain data collected and analyzed by experts at TRM Labs. Download your copy ➡️ https://hubs.la/Q02HXxwW0

Less than one week to go! ⏰ Join Crystal Noe (Head of Global Sanctions Compliance at Kraken), Sophie Bowler (Chief Compliance Officer at Zodia Custody), Isabella Chase (Senior Policy Advisor at TRM Labs), and Thomas A. (Compliance Advisor at TRM Labs) on July 30 or 31 for conversation about the global state of #sanctions and the resulting compliance implications for #crypto businesses. ✅ Hear about recent changes in sanctions policy around the world ✅ Learn the controls needed to operate an effective sanctions compliance program ✅ Find out how compliance leaders in crypto firms are approaching indirect risk ✅ Get inspiration to upskill and empower your sanctions team Save your spot in the session that works best for your time zone ➡️ https://hubs.la/Q02FDYT50

🎧 Learn about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s current approach to #crypto in our latest #TRMTalks! Sulolit "Raj" Mukherjee J.D. (Executive Director for the Office of Digital Assets Initiative at the IRS) joins Ari Redbord to discuss recent “broker regulations,” the role of tax authorities in shaping crypto policy, and the importance of public-private partnerships. Listen to the full episode now ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e2iF-fa3

📚 New from TRM Academy: An enhanced clustering and change analysis module in the TRM Academy Certified Investigator (TRM-CI) course and certification. In this updated module (available starting today!), you’ll learn how to cluster UTXO addresses using various heuristics such as co-spend, nominal spend, multi-signature analysis, and more—essential for presenting cryptocurrency evidence in court. With this refreshed module, you’ll learn how to: ✅ Confidently trace UTXO chains like Bitcoin ✅ Accurately select change addresses ✅ Verify ownership of additional addresses with a high degree of confidence This is just one of many updates we’re making to the TRM-CI certification—essential for anyone conducting on-chain investigations across blockchains. Learn more about the course ➡️ https://hubs.la/Q02Hvzzn0 or speak with your TRM rep today to get signed up for the certification.

This summer, we’ve seen a spate of #ransomware attacks on a diverse set of businesses around the world, from telecom to automotive. Our latest blog dives into the details of these recent ransomware attacks, examines how ransom payments are traced, and explains how international law enforcement and regulators are attempting to fight back against cybercriminals. Read the post here ➡️ https://hubs.la/Q02Hq_140

Over the last several years, most of the focus on digital assets regulation has been in the centralized space—think exchanges, custodians, and brokers. But the promise of the technology is decentralization; yet only a few regulators address the opportunities and risks in DeFi. While we’ve seen a report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Technology Advisory Committee, a risk assessment from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, a paper from Abu Dhabi Global Market, and proposed standards from IOSCO (the global securities standards setter), most global policy makers have focused on the centralized ecosystem. One exception is France. Last week, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) – France, part of the Banque de France, published a summary response to its 2023 discussion paper on DeFi. The AMF followed a paper from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority titled, “Principles for the Assessment of Decentralisation in the Markets for Crypto-assets,” released at the end of June. Both papers dive into the importance of actual decentralization when it comes to regulation. And both acknowledge that the level of centralization impacts whether or not a project falls within the regulatory perimeter. For example, if a DeFi project’s infrastructure layer is truly decentralized, then regulation may not be necessary or appropriate. Additionally, both papers acknowledge that decentralization exists on a sliding scale and evolves over time. However, they diverge on the need to certify smart contracts, a primary position of the AMF. 🧐 What’s next? Both papers will contribute to the broader EU discussion on how MiCA impacts the DeFi space, with a report from the European Commission expected by the end of the year. 📷: Gilles Rolle / REA