Warren and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and National Security Advisory Jake Sullivan to question what the authorities are doing about Iran’s “increasingly lucrative” relationship with crypto mining that “poses a direct threat to our national security.”
The letter, dated May 1, outlined Iran’s status as a leading jurisdiction for bitcoin (BTC) mining and how its central bank channels cryptocy to fund the economy, though many of the citations were based on activity in 2021.
“Cryptomining has become such a big industry in Iran that it has strained the country’s energy grid, leading the Iranian government to temporarily suspend cryptomining several times after it was blamed for massive blackouts,” the lawmakers wrote.
The senators also noted Iran’s history with crypto money laundering and that government’s ties to ransomware operations that work in digital assets.
Warren and King directed the officials to “describe the steps the administration is taking to address threats to U.S. national security posed by Iran’s reliance on cryptomining and cryptocy more generally to earn revenue and bypass sanctions.”
The lawmakers’ letter was sent in advance of Thursday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on global threats.
The Federal Reserve has unveiled a new proposed rule that would require certain payment stablecoin issuers to…
Shares of HIVE Digital Technologies jumped more than 10% after the company announced a major $220 million, three-year…
Illinois has officially become the first U.S. state to impose a transaction-based tax on cryptocy activity…
The cryptocy market was hit by a sharp wave of volatility after the Federal Open Market…
Algorand is accelerating its push toward becoming one of the world's first fully quantum-resistant blockchains, announcing…
The long-awaited Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is moving closer to becoming law as momentum continues building…