Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is urging the New York state government to pass the CRYPTO Act to crack down on cryptocurrency-related crimes.
Under the new law, any business that exchanges, sends or trades crypto without a license can be prosecuted as a crime.
If the transaction amount reaches $1 million, offenders can face prison sentences of between 5 and 15 years.
New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who introduced the bill, said this measure is very important because ordinary citizens are increasingly becoming victims of crypto scams.
“These scams happen almost every day, and the victims are hard-working New Yorkers,” he said.
Authorities also revealed that many crypto ATMs are operating illegally for criminal activities such as money laundering, fraudulent investment schemes and various types of scams.
Bragg believes that with the passage of the CRYPTO Act, authorities will have stronger powers to shut down unlicensed crypto ATMs and crack down on criminal networks that exploit digital financial technology.
