TRM Talks

A year ago next month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), building upon their Digital Currency Initiative (DCI),  with a mission to “to tackle complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of cryptocurrency, particularly crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services and money laundering infrastructure actors."

Over the course of the last year, the NCET, consisting of Criminal Trial Attorneys and Assistant United States Attorneys from across the nation, has worked with law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute crypto-related cases. These cases have ranged from darknet mixing services to insider trading, ICO scams to national security threats.

Beyond investigations and prosecutions, the NCET has been charged with responding to President Biden’s crypto executive order as agencies grapple with how to regulate in the digital assets space.

This month, TRM Talks was joined by United States Digital Currency Counsels, members of both the DCI and NCET, to talk about DOJ’s focus on crypto and what comes next.

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) recently sanctioned cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, which has been used by North Korean cyber criminals such as state-sponsored Lazarus Group to support cyber activities and launder the stolen proceeds of hacks against cryptocurrency businesses. This designation of Tornado Cash is a watershed moment, not only for the crypto industry but for financial sanctions overall as it targets a widely used mixing service, potentially answering the question of whether or not mixing services at large will be allowed to operate as long as they remain susceptible to illicit actors.  

In the hours following the designation, Ari Redbord sat down with TRM's team of experts to discuss the significance of Tornado Cash as a target of sanctions, how these events fit into wider efforts to combat the use of crypto for money laundering and illicit activity, and what these sanctions mean for crypto businesses and other regulated institutions on-the-ground who need to respond to incorporate these updates into their operations in real-time.  

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. 

Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

From NFT rug pulls to programmatic money laundering of hacked funds by nation-state actors like North Korea, threat actors are becoming more and more sophisticated - but so are the investigators and the tools they are using.   

Check out TRM Talks Investigations for a discussion about the latest cases, trends and typologies, with former FBI investigators Jennifer Vander Veer, Taylor Windemuth and Lisa Wolk; former United States Secret Service Agent Rita Martin, and threat intelligence expert Monika Laird.  

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. 

Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

Over the last few years, we have seen global regulators walk a fine line as they attempt to regulate digital assets without stifling innovation even as the technology moves at the speed of the internet. Nowhere has this been more true than in Singapore, where regulators have sought to launch a framework for digital assets focused on creating a welcoming environment for cryptocurrency businesses while at the same time zealously protecting consumers and mitigating the risks of money laundering and other illicit activity. This has triggered robust advertising and AML regulation.   

Singapore’s Payment Services Act came into effect in January 2020, providing a framework for regulating areas from trading cryptocurrencies to using tokens for payments. Under the law, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issues digital payment token licenses to crypto companies that make it through the application process. And, in April, Singapore extended the licensing requirement to virtual asset service providers in the city-state which only do business overseas.  

Singapore has led the way globally when it comes to crypto regulation. Understanding the regulatory framework in Singapore is critical for businesses looking to engage with the nation, but also for those looking to understand regulatory frameworks for digital assets across the globe.  

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. 

Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

While the headlines coming out of London this week may have been related to politics, scandal, and upheaval at 10 Downing Street, financial regulators have been hard at work the last few months providing consultations, reports, responses, and guidance or issues related to cryptocurrency. Ari Redbord sat down to talk discuss UK crypto regulation James Gillespie, Policy Advisor, Sanctions & Illicit Finance at HM Treasury and Ian Taylor, Executive Director at CryptoUK.  ‍

According to a comprehensive plan to make the U.K. a global cryptocurrency hub issued in April 2022, we are going to see: 

As discussed in this episode of TRM Talks, it is critical for the UK to ensure that its approach remains joined up and doesn't fall victim to the tradeoff between growth of the crypto ecosystem and stability. With that being said, keep an eye out for potential updates in this space in the upcoming Chancellor's speech later this summer.‍  

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. 

Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

As global policymakers continue to build legal and regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrency, compliance professionals at cryptocurrency businesses and financial institutions are working to ensure that they are building robust policies and procedures to mitigate the risks of fraud and financial crime.   

In this TRM Talk, we’ll look at today's key issues and challenges for compliance teams in the digital asset space, including:   

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. 

Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

Decentralized finance – DeFi – has created an entire on-chain Wall Street – a digital financial services industry where users engage with software called smart contracts. With DeFi, you can do most of the things that banks support — earn interest, borrow, lend, buy insurance, trade derivatives, trade assets, and more — but at the speed of the internet. Only a handful of regulators globally have weighed in on the power, promise, risks and challenges of DeFi.

This month, Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) published a discussion paper that seeks guidance from the cryptocurrency industry and serves as a starting point for a dialogue on how DeFi may be regulated.

In this TRM Talk, we spoke to one of the paper’s authors, Brian Yeoh, Head of Data Governance and Strategy for ADGM, to discuss the new DeFi paper and how a leading regulator is thinking about the DeFi space.

For more analysis of the paper: https://www.trmlabs.com/post/trm-talks-abu-dhabi-global-markets-discussion-paper-on-defi

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

We saw a series of calculated and coordinated actions leading to the takedown of Hydra, the world's largest and longest-running darknet market. In 2021, Hydra accounted for an estimated 80% of all darknet market-related cryptocurrency transactions, and since 2015, the marketplace has received approximately $5.2 billion in cryptocurrency.  

In the wake of these actions, a panel of subject matter experts join TRM Talks to discuss the Hydra takedown, the Garantex designation, and the global strategy to investigate and take action against the illicit underbelly of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Watch the talk to hear insights from:  

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. 

Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

Earlier this year, President Biden signed a long-awaited crypto executive order on “Ensuring Responsible Innovation in Digital Assets (Order),” and issued this fact sheet. While regulatory agencies have been providing crypto-related guidance and taking enforcement actions for years, the White House, with this executive order, intends to outline “the first-ever, whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology.” 

The Order sets forth a national policy for cryptocurrency across “six key priorities: consumer and investor protection; financial stability; illicit finance; U.S. leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness; financial inclusion; and responsible innovation.” 

In the wake of the executive order, TRM Talks sat down with three experts - Carole House, Director of Cyber Security and Digital Innovation at the White House National Security Council, Teana Baker-Taylor Chief Policy Officer for the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy for Circle -  to discuss the Order, the deliberations behind it and what it means for the crypto-industry and beyond.

This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. 

Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, we have seen a wave of U.S. and European sanctions targeting Russia. Key financial institutions, the Russian Central bank, elites, key sectors such as energy, mining, telecommunications, and transportation have all been hit. Will Russia turn to cryptocurrency to evade sanctions?
In this TRM Talks, Ari Redbord, Head of Legal and Government Affairs at TRM, is joined by Carole House, Director for Cybersecurity and Secure Digital Innovation for the White House National Security Council (NSC) and Todd Conklin, Counselor to the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, to discuss Russia sanctions, the possibility of sanctioned Russian actors using crypto to evade sanctions, and how Treasury, the White House, and the U.S. government intend to enforce escalating sanctions on Russia.