Crypto Cons Stole 650% More Money in 2021

The amount of money lost to cryptocurrency fraud in 2021 surged 650% from the year before—highlighting the risks posed by digital assets, a major reason that the government has launched a new effort to regulate them. 

That’s according to an FBI report from earlier this year, which said the value of losses of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies to scams jumped from $246 million in 2020 to $1.6 billion in 2021. The White House cited these statistics Friday when it announced its creation of a framework for government agencies to regulate the fast-and-loose world of cryptocurrency. Among other measures, the report directed regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to step up their efforts to go after wrongdoers in the crypto world. 

In a report outlining the government’s plan, the White House noted that cryptocurrency is an ideal vehicle for criminals because anonymous, peer-to-peer systems bypass the traditional finance system with all its controls and reporting requirements. 

In the future, the frontier of digital payments could get a little less wild: The White House noted the Federal Reserve is planning to launch a new instant payment network next year, FedNow,  intended to make electronic payments faster and more accessible. It’s also forming a working group from different government agencies to study the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency, a digital payment system that would be controlled by the Fed. 

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