The FBI is building a specialized team focused on the enforcement of crimes involving cryptocurrency.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco made the announcement in a speech at the Munich Cyber Security Conference, saying that the unit will be called the Virtual Asset Exploitation Team, Fox News reports.
“This FBI unit will combine cryptocurrency experts into one nerve center that can provide equipment blockchain analysis, virtual asset seizure and training to the rest of the FBI,” Monaco said, adding that the team will join the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team she announced in October.
In a separate announcement Thursday, the Justice Department said in a press release that computer crimes prosecutor Eun Young Choi will be the team’s first director, effective immediately.
“With the rapid innovation of digital assets and distributed ledger technologies, we have seen a rise in their illicit use by criminals who exploit them to fuel cyberattacks and ransomware and extortion schemes; traffic in narcotics, hacking tools and illicit contraband online; commit thefts and scams; and launder the proceeds of their crimes,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said.
“The NCET will serve as the focal point for the department’s efforts to tackle the growth of crime involving these technologies,” Polite added. “Eun Young is an accomplished leader on cyber and cryptocurrency issues, and I am pleased that she will continue her service as the NCET’s inaugural Director, spearheading the department’s efforts in this area.”
