Financial Technology Protection Act of 2025
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Would establish a temporary, multi-agency working group to study how terrorists and other illicit actors use digital assets and other emerging financial technologies, and would require the Treasury Department to produce a strategy for preventing such abuse to evade U.S. sanctions.
The bill is primarily a research and reporting measure rather than a direct regulatory change, but its findings and legislative proposals could shape future U.S. policy on cryptocurrency oversight and national security.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would create the Independent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing, chaired by the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes and drawing senior representatives from ten federal agencies including the FBI, DEA, Secret Service, and Department of Homeland Security, as well as at least five private-sector appointees from financial technology companies, blockchain intelligence firms, financial institutions, research organizations, and civil liberties groups. The Working Group would research how terrorists and criminals exploit digital assets and emerging technologies, and would develop legislative and regulatory proposals to strengthen anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing efforts. It would submit annual reports to Congress and relevant agency heads for four years, then dissolve.
Separately, the bill would require the President, acting through Treasury, to submit a report to Congress within 180 days describing how states, non-state actors, and terrorist organizations could use digital assets to evade sanctions or launder money, along with a strategy to prevent such abuse. Treasury would then brief Congress on the implementation of that strategy within two years of enactment. The bill does not itself impose new regulations or penalties.
Key provisions
- 1Would establish the Independent Financial Technology Working Group, chaired by the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, with representatives from ten federal agencies and at least five private-sector members.
- 2Would direct the Working Group to research terrorist and illicit use of digital assets and develop legislative and regulatory proposals to improve anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing efforts.
- 3Would require the Working Group to submit annual reports to Congress and agency heads for four years, plus a final report before dissolution.
- 4Would terminate the Working Group four years after enactment, with authority to wind up ongoing activities, and require unspent appropriated funds to be returned to Treasury.
- 5Would require the President, acting through Treasury, to report within 180 days on how digital assets could be used to evade sanctions and threaten national security, and to set out a strategy to prevent such use.
- 6Would require Treasury to brief the appropriate congressional committees on implementation of the digital-asset sanctions-evasion strategy within two years of enactment.
Who would be affected
Federal agencies represented on the Working Group — including Treasury, Justice, the FBI, DEA, DHS, Secret Service, State, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — would be directed to participate. Private-sector participants from fintech companies, blockchain analytics firms, financial institutions, and research and civil liberties organizations would also be drawn in. Ultimately, digital-asset platforms and financial institutions could face future regulatory proposals stemming from the Working Group's recommendations.
Why it matters
If the Working Group produces influential legislative or regulatory proposals, the bill could be a precursor to binding rules on how cryptocurrency platforms screen for illicit transactions or comply with anti-money laundering requirements. The Treasury sanctions report could also inform executive action targeting foreign actors using digital assets to circumvent U.S. financial restrictions — a growing national security concern.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Treasury report on digital assets and sanctions evasion due
- First annual Working Group report to Congress and agency heads due
- Treasury briefing to Congress on sanctions-evasion strategy implementation
- Working Group terminates (absent ongoing wind-up activities)
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 2384 would cost less than $500,000 annually — totaling $1 million over the 2025–2030 period — with no effect on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit.
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2384 would cost less than $500,000 per year, amounting to $1 million over the 2025–2030 period, entirely for administrative costs subject to the availability of appropriated funds (i.e., money Congress must separately approve each year). The bill would have no effect on direct (mandatory) spending, revenues, or the deficit in any scoring period, including the four consecutive 10-year windows beginning in 2036. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
The Working Group would be chaired by the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, with agency representatives and private-sector members appointed by that official. The group would conduct research and develop proposals, submitting annual reports to Congress and relevant agency heads each year for four years, culminating in a final report before the group dissolves. Treasury would separately produce a sanctions-evasion report within 180 days of enactment, post its unclassified portion publicly on the Treasury website in machine-readable and downloadable formats, and brief Congress on the resulting strategy within two years. Any unspent appropriated funds revert to Treasury upon dissolution.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Official CRS summary
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This bill establishes the Independent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing. The working group must study and report on terrorist and illicit use of digital assets and other related emerging technologies and develop proposals to improve anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing efforts.
The working group terminates four years after the bill's enactment or after the working group completes any ongoing activities, whichever is later.
In addition, the Department of the Treasury must (1) report on the potential use of digital assets and other emerging technologies by states, nonstate actors, and terrorist groups for the purpose of evading sanctions to threaten the national security of the United States; and (2) describe a strategy to mitigate and prevent this usage.
Legislative subjects
Advanced technology and technological innovations; Advisory bodies; Banking and financial institutions regulation; Computers and information technology; Congressional oversight; Currency; Department of the Treasury; Digital media; Finance and Financial Sector; Fraud offenses and financial crimes; Government information and archives; Government studies and investigations; Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents; Sanctions; Terrorism
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-93