1/ 🚨 IMPORTANT 🚨

Included in the America COMPETES Act just introduced in the House, and which will very likely pass in some form, is a provision that would be disastrous not just for cryptocurrency but for privacy and due process generally. www.coincenter.org/new-bill-would-hand-treasury-blank-check-to-ban-crypto-at-exchanges/

2/ The so-called "special measures" provision (proposed by @jahimes) would essentially give the Treasury Secretary unchecked and unilateral power to ban exchanges and other financial institutions from engaging in cryptocurrency transactions. How would it do this?

3/ Bank Secrecy Act §5318A allows the Secretary to identify a "primary money laundering concern" and take "special measures" to (1) require financial institutions to report information on the concern, and/or (2) prohibit FIs from maintaining accounts related to the concern.

4/ "Special measures" authority is vast power that the Secretary of the Treasury has today, so in the current statute there are checks on that power.

5/ First, the law requires that Treasury engage in a public rulemaking before instituting a prohibition. Second, the secretary can impose a surveillance special measure through a simple order, but its duration is limited to 120 days and must be accompanied by a public rulemaking.

6/ While not full due process, these limitations at least alert the public and gives the public some opportunity to comment on a special measure's merit or constitutionality.

7/ The new provision would do three things:

-Add "certain transmittal of funds" to the list of things that can be banned by the Secretary

-Eliminate all public notice and comment requirements

-Eliminate the 120-day limitation for measures imposed without regulation

8/ If adopted into law, this provision would be disaster not just for crypto but for privacy and democratic public process related to *all* types of financial transactions.

9/ It empowers the Secretary to prohibit any (or indeed all) cryptocurrency transactions (or any other kind of transaction) without any process, rulemaking, or limitation on the duration of the prohibition.

10/ This provision was first introduced as an amendment to the national Defense Authorization Act last year by Rep. @jahimes. amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/D091421.082.xml210915100132965.pdf

11/ After alerting folks in the House and Senate of that amendment's unintended consequences, it was removed from the final bill that passed. Unfortunately it's back verbatim without any improvements.

12/ It still strips out *all* administrative process and duration limitations on the Secretary’s power to condition or prohibit transactions at financial institutions associated with primary money laundering concerns.

13/ It's time to call your member of Congress and ask that they take action to make sure that notice and comment and duration limitations are not removed from 31 U.S.C. § 5318A as the America COMPETES Act would do.