FinCEN Hires Former Chainalysis Executive As New Acting Director

FinCEN hires Michael Mosier, the former Chainalysis executive as the new acting director of the agency due to his history with the financial crime regulator so let’s find out more in our latest cryptocurrency news today.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of FinCEN hires Michael Mosier as the new Acting Director for the agency that regulates cryptocurrencies in the US. Mosier has quite a history with FinCEN and worked at Chainalysis, the well-known blockchain analytics company. Mosier will lead the US Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as per a statement from the regulator itself. As the current director at FinCEN Kenneth Blaco stepped down, Mosier will become an acting director while AnnaLou Tirol will be named as deputy director.

FinCEN works to prevent financial crimes and prevent money laundering to terrorist financing while playing a huge role in keeping crypto’s bad actors away while some of the moves aggravated privacy purists because some initiatives included proposals around KYC and reporting for crypto holdings. Mosier worked at FinCEN in the past as a deputy director and digital innovation officer and now he is a counselor to the deputy secretary of the Treasury. He worked as a chief technical officer for Chainalysis and helped governments fight back against crypto criminals while previously holding positions ad the DOJ and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Chainalysis was involved in an investigation with the IRS and the Air Force, saying that it’s valued at $2 billion after a $100 million Series D funding round. The company’s year to end Crypto Crime report showed that some forms of extortion malware attacks are increasing which is why the agency is keeping an eye on them. The outgoing director Blanco commented:

“I have every confidence in Mr. Mosier and Ms. Tirol’s ability to lead the bureau forward and continue the progress of ensuring our national security and protecting people from harm. They are skilled professionals with extensive experience safeguarding the American people.”

Mosier will start with his role on April 11 this year, while Tirol has already started.

As recently reported, Most US Crypto companies united to oppose the new AML laws that were proposed by the FinCEN regulatory body. According to the new rules, all crypto businesses will have to gather information on the identities of non-customer counterparties. In a letter that he wrote, Jack Dorsey warned that these rules will only drive away crypto users.