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DEA Special Agent: Shutting Down Fiat On-ramps and Off-ramps to Crypto Would Cause “More Harm Than Good"

Amy Liu

Summary: During today’s first day of streaming panels at the LA Blockchain Summit, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Patrick O’Kain, who helped establish the New York Cyber Unit, discussed how government agencies approach cryptocurrency and indicated that regulated exchanges are good for law enforcement. “If those allegations turn out to be true and ...

During today’s first day of streaming panels at the LA Blockchain Summit, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Patrick O’Kain, who helped establish the New York Cyber Unit, discussed how government agencies approach cryptocurrency and indicated that regulated exchanges are good for law enforcement.

“If those allegations turn out to be true and they’re found guilty, I think they’re doing a big disservice to the crypto industry,” said O’Kain about BitMEX, although he noted that his views are personal and not necessarily representative of the DEA or wider US Department of Justice.

O’Kain added that law enforcement can currently access information from compliant exchanges with probable cause, subpoenas, and search warrants. Shutting down fiat on-ramps and off-ramps to crypto in the US would cause “more harm than good,” he said, as it would limit law enforcement’s insight into illicit transactions.

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