In response to abrupt rise in cryptocurrency crime and ransomware attacks around the world, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced plans to create a new specialized unit dedicated to combating the growing cryptocurrency crimes.
The US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco declared the formation of the Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit (VAEU) at the Munich Cyber Security Conference (VAXU) on Thursday, February 17.
The Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit (VAXU) team will be comprised of FBI’s crypto security professionals who will undertake blockchain analysis in order to track and seize digital funds linked to criminal behavior. It will also develop its own crypto technologies to protect itself from future cyber attacks.
The team will be part of the Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), which was established in 2021 and is tasked with investigating how cybercriminals use digital assets in their operations. In a press release issued by the Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, it was explained why the NCET was established.
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How Cryptocurrency Crime Unit was initiated
The establishment of the unit follows the indictment of a New York couple by the Department of Justice earlier this month for money laundering in connection with a 2016 hack of popular digital currency exchange Bitfinex. Law enforcement officers recovered $3.6 billion of the stolen funds, making it the greatest financial seizure in the department’s history.
The huge victory was the first for the Department of Justice (DOJ) since establishing its own crypto enforcement unit last year, which was comprised of approximately a dozen anti-money laundering and cybercrime professionals.
Apart from announcing the formation of the new VAXU unit, Deputy Attorney General of the United States Lisa Monaco confirmed that federal prosecutor Eun Young Choi, an expert in bringing cybercriminals to justice, will serve as the first director of the National Cybersecurity Enforcement Team.
We are looking forward to see a significant change in the arena of Cryptocurrency crime with the involvement of both the FBI and the NCET since they have started going after cybercriminals with a vow to bring them to justice.
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