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The Coinbase Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Paul Grewal, has vehemently countered a latest report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report raised considerations about the usage of cryptocurrencies to evade U.S. financial sanctions. The GAO report highlighted cases the place overseas 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 collection of tweets, Grewal criticized the GAO’s findings and highlighted a scarcity of thorough evaluation. He questioned the absence of comparative research and common evaluation. Additionally, he accused the GAO of concentrating on an business that diligently invests thousands and thousands to adjust to authorized frameworks.

Grewal urged readers to scrutinize the report’s content material. Furthermore, the Coinbase CLO asserted that buried inside the clickbait hyperlinks have been admissions that digital belongings will not be 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 business shouldn’t be blamed alone.

In addition, he expressed considerations over taxpayers’ cash used for the analysis by GAO. He stated that it could 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 alternate in June final yr for functioning as an unregistered nationwide securities alternate. 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 eventualities the place digital belongings 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 help of North Korea’s weapons packages. Whilst, to deal with these challenges, federal companies such because the Departments of Justice and Treasury have taken motion towards these exploiting digital belongings to evade sanctions.

Examples embody charging Russian and Venezuelan nationals for utilizing cryptocurrency to bypass sanctions associated to acquiring Venezuelan oil and U.S. army know-how. GAO’s findings additionally highlighted that the Treasury imposed an enormous monetary settlement on Binance and its associates. This transfer was taken attributable to Binance’s violation of U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions legal guidelines.

However, the report additionally make clear the constraints of crypto getting used for the evasion of sanctions. This half was already highlighted by the Coinbase CLO and signifies a somewhat diplomatic stance whereas the company initially blamed all of it on the crypto business. GAO famous that federal companies 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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