The US Department of Justice announced Thursday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a new Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit focused on cryptocurrency-related crimes. FBI’s New Virtual Exploitation Unit FBI’s new Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit will be “a specialized team of cryptocurrency experts dedicated to providing analysis, support, and training across the FBI, as well as innovating its cryptocurrency tools to stay ahead of future threats,” according to a press release from the Justice Department. The Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit will work alongside the US Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) together with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and other governmental agencies. The new unit together with the various government agencies will identify, investigate cases involving the criminal usage of digital assets such as mixing and tumbling services including infrastructure providers that enable the misuse of cryptocurrencies for illegal purposes. Tackling Cyber Crimes The announcement came soon after the Department of Justice recently arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan for alleged money laundering in connection to the $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex crypto exchange in 2016. Law enforcement agencies have extensively taken up in tackling cybercrime by recovering ransomware funds stolen by hackers and identifying them through transactions. Meanwhile, blockchain analysis company Chainalysis recently reported that around $11 billion in cryptocurrency holdings at the end of last year came from illicit sources.
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