The Treasury will expand financial surveillance of cash transactions.

There are many questions about whether this directive can be applied widely to crypto transactions beyond cash. But the experts said Decryption Digital asset owners should not be wary. The order raises concerns about Americans’ financial privacy rights, but it does not apply to those who send and receive digital assets through platforms such as: Coinbase.

“There are crypto companies that are licensed and treated as money services businesses,” said Neeraj Agrawal, communications director at Coincenter. Decryption. However, “Orders start with cash. (Yes) this seems to be targeting Western Union type businesses.”

The temporary order issued by FINCEN last Friday calls for money services businesses in California and Texas with 30 ZIP codes to report cash transactions above $200 from the standard $10,000 reporting threshold. Such reports require the name, address and Social Security number of the individual who will begin the transaction. The amount and type of money to be exchanged. The recipient and purpose of the transaction.

The directive affecting more than one million people aims to combat “significant risks to the US financial system of cartels, drug traffickers and other criminals along the southwest border.” I said In a statement on March 11th.

Money laundering, which launders money orders, wire transfers, and other services offered by Western Union-style businesses, serves as a critical financial lifeline for drug cartels, allowing them to continue their profits and continue illegal activities that frequently promote violence and corruption in communities along the US Mexican border. However, immigrants and non-bank individuals also rely on these services, sending remittances, paying household bills and using them to resolve debts.

Surveillance of transactions processed by money services businesses in some border towns could help to block the activity of drug cartels, but Nick Anthony, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute of Libertarian Think Tank, said the potential benefits of orders come at the expense of “pretty harsh intrusions” into the lives of ordinary people. Decryption.

“This will affect people at the bottom edge of the income spectrum who frequently use these types of alternative financial services,” Anthony said. “People who think there is a sense of financial privacy will soon know that the government can actually provide drastic surveillance with a momentary notification.”

Also, crypto companies are not required to comply with orders, but the new rules should warn digital asset owners and others who advocate financial autonomy and the right to do personal business from the careful eyes of the federal government, Anthony said.

“This will be a pretty harsh awakening for many people whose amendments don’t work with the way many people think,” he said.

Anthony added that a temporary U.S. Treasury order that could later be extended effectively encourages businesses to report transactions below the new $200 threshold.

Money Services businesses are required by law to flag what appears to be structured or split large financial transactions into several smaller transactions in order to avoid federal reporting requirements.

So, if you suspect that your business is sending $185 to avoid a $200 reporting threshold, Anthony explained, you should file a report with the US Treasury Department to flag any individuals who attempted to make a transaction.

“This opens up separate issues where the $200 threshold really effectively becomes a $0 threshold,” he said.

According to Anthony, these strict surveillance rules were able to drive Western Union and Moneygram clients to Crypto.

“This announcement encourages people to look into alternatives, whether it’s cryptocurrency or something else,” Anthony said. But “it should be a decision that people are making on their own, not because other options are effectively crushed, but simply because they are best suited to what suits their needs.”