U.S. government prepares to apply the Patriot Act to Bitcoin and digital assets

Andrea Gacki, director of the Financial Crime Enforcement Bureau (FinCEN), confirmed that the U.S. Treasury Department is finalizing a “mixer rule” that prohibits U.S. citizens from using privacy tools on nearly all public blockchains, citing concerns about anonymous transactions and money laundering risks. The rule targets activities such as cryptocurrency pools, transaction structure designs, and one-time wallets, which may criminalize common privacy practices. Meanwhile, the restarted Special Measures for the Fighting Modern Threats Act could give the Treasury authority to ban transactions without public notice, raising concerns about excessive authoritarian regulation of cryptocurrency.