US Secret Service holds crypto, praises blockchain technology in Reddit AMA

The United States Secret Service owns crypto, has its own NFT collection, and has praised blockchain technology’s potential to fight financial crime, Reddit users learned during a recent Ask-Me-Anything (AMA).

On May 15, representatives from the United States Secret Service San Francisco Field Office and the Bay Area Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) Revealed To inquire members of the subreddit, r/cryptocurrency.

While some regulators still view crypto as a tool for fraudsters and scammers, the REACT task force hailed the public and transparent nature of blockchain as an “amazing opportunity” for crime fighters to track the flow of money. Appreciated.

The Secret Service has previously made the point that the immutable nature of the blockchain ledger means that in some cases illegal financial activity can be more easily monitored and tracked than fiat.

An upcoming Netflix-featured Bitfinex story involving some unlikely criminals has made the point very clear: Laundering money using blockchain is hard enough.

Answering a follow-up question about the best way to hide shady behavior on the blockchain, the Secret Service said that if people want to do fraudulent things financially, it’s best to carry money in cash than in crypto.

Another Redditor asked whether or not the Secret Service held cryptocurrency themselves, to which the authority said they “definitely hold crypto” and described themselves as crypto “enthusiasts” in subsequent responses. . The agency said that owning crypto helps them better understand the deep mechanisms of the crypto world.

“Most cases require a certain level of ELI5’ing. This is somewhat of a running joke,” the agency explained, referencing the popular subreddit r/explainlikeimfive with the acronym “ELI5”.

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When asked whether they see any significant differences between crypto crimes and illegal activities in the world of traditional finance, the Secret Service noted that the “vast majority” of calls and reports received by their office usually involve crypto in some fashion. gets involved.

“They differ in many ways from legal scrutiny, both in good ways and bad, but most notable is that crypto transactions are irreversible and irreversible.”

While the agencies answered a wide range of serious questions, some fun was also had during the session. When a Redditor asked if the Secret Service would consider launching its own “Memecoin,” the agency responded by plugging itself. nft collection on OpenC.

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