US DOJ aims to fight malicious actors attacking decentralized finance platforms.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is focusing its efforts on catching decentralized finance (DeFi) hackers and thieves amid an increase in illegal crypto activity over the past four years.
According to the news report shared by the Financial Times, the director of the DOJ's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), Eun Young Choi, said they're particularly concerned about thefts and hacks involving DeFi and "chain bridges."
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This problem is significant due to the involvement of North Korean hackers, who stole an estimated $630 million to $1 billion of crypto assets in 2022 alone.
Choi was appointed as the first director of the NCET in February 2022. The NCET is the DOJ's primary division for investigating cryptocurrency-related crimes, including cybercrime, money laundering, and asset forfeiture.
Initially, the DOJ focused on "mixing and tumbling services," but they didn't mention DeFi platforms.
However, now, they're targeting crypto companies that commit crimes or allow crimes to happen by obscuring transactions. On top of that, Eun Young Choi stated:
The DOJ is targeting companies that commit crimes themselves or allow them to happen, such as enabling money laundering.
Moreover, Choi noted that cracking down on platforms would have a "multiplier effect," making it difficult for “criminal actors to easily profit from their crimes.”
The scale of digital assets being used illegally has grown significantly over the last four years. There have been numerous attacks on DeFi platforms, with the largest hack this year involving the theft of over $196 million from Euler Finance.
