Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5036, the Financial Technology Protection Act, which was led by Congressman Ted Budd (R-NC) and Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA).  This legislation helps address the emerging threat of terrorist and criminal actors relying on digital currencies, including Bitcoin, to fund their illicit activities.

The Financial Technology Protection Act will establish a public-private sector task force that would research terrorist and illicit uses of financial technologies, including digital currencies, and develop proposals to counter such terrorist and illicit uses.  It will also create a grant program to develop tools to detect terrorist and illicit uses of these currencies, and it would establish a reward for any person who provides information leading to the conviction of an individual involved with the terrorist use of digital currencies.  Finally, the bill would require the government to identify how illicit actors and foreign terrorist organizations evade sanctions, finance terrorism, or launder money using these currencies, and to develop a strategy to counter such terrorist and illicit uses. 

The text of H.R. 5036, the Financial Technology Protection Act, is available here.