The Coinbase Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Paul Grewal, has vehemently countered a current report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report raised considerations about using cryptocurrencies to evade U.S. financial sanctions. The GAO report highlighted cases the place international states going through U.S. sanctions used cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) to bypass the meant affect of financial restrictions.
Coinbase CLO bashes U.S. GAO’s stance
In a sequence of tweets, Grewal criticized the GAO’s findings and highlighted a scarcity of thorough evaluation. He questioned the absence of comparative research and basic evaluation. Additionally, he accused the GAO of concentrating on an trade that diligently invests tens of millions to adjust to authorized frameworks.
Grewal urged readers to scrutinize the report’s content material. Furthermore, the Coinbase CLO asserted that buried throughout the clickbait hyperlinks have been admissions that digital property are usually not an environment friendly means to evade sanctions. This highlights that the U.S. GAO itself isn’t positive about its stance, which reassures that the crypto trade shouldn’t be blamed alone.
In addition, he expressed considerations over taxpayers’ cash used for the analysis by GAO. He stated that it will be “embarrassing” for the taxpayers to see their funds getting used for such “shoddy work” by the federal government. Moreover, Grewal bluntly declared, “That’s the smell of the people’s money being burned.”
The aforementioned assertion comes as Coinbase is engaged in a court docket battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC had earlier sued the crypto trade in June final 12 months for functioning as an unregistered nationwide securities trade. However, Coinbase has strongly refuted the claims whereas the choose’s ruling is impending.
Also Read: Coinbase CEO Extends Respect To Jamie Dimon Despite Bitcoin Clash
What did the U.S. GAO report say?
The GAO report outlined how states going through U.S. sanctions strategically used cryptocurrencies to hide transactions. It detailed situations the place digital property like Bitcoin facilitated fund technology from cybercrime and different illicit actions. It added that this led to an undermining of the meant affect of the financial sanctions.
In addition, the report famous that the Treasury had beforehand designated people in China for laundering stolen digital currencies in assist of North Korea’s weapons packages. Whilst, to handle these challenges, federal businesses such because the Departments of Justice and Treasury have taken motion in opposition to these exploiting digital property to evade sanctions.
Examples embrace charging Russian and Venezuelan nationals for utilizing cryptocurrency to bypass sanctions associated to acquiring Venezuelan oil and U.S. navy expertise. GAO’s findings additionally highlighted that the Treasury imposed a large monetary settlement on Binance and its associates. This transfer was taken because of Binance’s violation of U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions legal guidelines.
However, the report additionally make clear the restrictions of crypto getting used for the evasion of sanctions. This half was already highlighted by the Coinbase CLO and signifies a relatively diplomatic stance whereas the company initially blamed all of it on the crypto trade. GAO famous that federal businesses and personal sector entities can hint transactions on public blockchains to counter illicit actions.
Also Read: Coinbase CLO Calls for Congressional Oversight Over SEC
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