Former Chainalysis brass is now FinCEN’s acting director

Former Chainalysis brass is now FinCEN’s acting director

The current acting director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, will bid farewell to the governing body in April. His replacement: Michael Mosier, Chainalysis’ former chief technical counsel. 

“Director Kenneth A. Blanco today announced several leadership changes impacting the bureau,” said a public statement from FinCEN on Friday, adding:

Our top trading bots

“Director Blanco announced he will depart FinCEN on April 9, after serving as the organization’s director since December 2017. Michael Mosier, former FinCEN Deputy Director and current Counselor to the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, will return to FinCEN as Acting Director.”

Blanco was the government agency’s eighth director. AnnaLou Tirol, FinCEN’s deputy director, worked as the agency’s associate director of its Strategic Operations Division in the past, the statement said. Mosier takes his post as acting director on April 11.

This is not the first crypto-experienced hire by a government agency. President Biden chose Gary Gensler as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Gensler is well-educated on the crypto industry as he taught an in-depth course on the subject at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, in 2018.

After Mosier’s work for Chainalysis, he spent time working for FinCEN in other capacities, as well as for the U.S. Department of Justice and multiple other U.S. government positions.

"I am proud to have led an incredible organization with an important national security mission that has a profound effect on the lives of so many people, especially the most vulnerable in our society,” Blanco said in the statement upon his exit. “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.”

U.S. government agencies have become increasingly involved in the crypto industry over time.

Keep reading on Cointelegraph
Tokens pose lesser risk than gold and oil for UK investors — Survey
A survey on investors across the United Kingdom has revealed a growing interest in the new asset classes that threaten to overshadow traditional finance,...
Mining worldwide: Where should crypto miners go in a changing landscape?
One of the main themes among the crypto community in 2021 was China’s aggressive policy toward mining, which led to a complete ban on such activities in...
DeFi may turn to DAO governance to reduce regulatory risks in 2022: Report
KuCoin Labs, the investment and research arm of crypto exchange KuCoin, has released its annual report, predicting that decentralized finance (DeFi) will...
ZK-rollups step into the limelight after the quest to scale Ethereum evolves
Scalability on the Ethereum (ETH) network has been a point of contention within the cryptocurrency ecosystem for years, primarily due to high fees and network...
Bancor introduces new staking pools and instant impermanent loss protection
Decentralized automated market maker (AMM) Bancor is set to launch new staking pools and an upgrade to its impermanent loss protection mechanism as part...
Green means go: 5 spectacular altcoin rallies with one thing in common
In crypto trading we often see entire sectors move in tandem. DeFi coins may all curve upwards together, while metaverse tokens soared on news that Facebook’s...
ProShares Bitcoin ETF to debut on NYSE on Oct. 19
The first Bitcoin (BTC) futures-linked exchange-traded fund in the United States, ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF, will begin trading on the New York Stock...
Square to acquire Australian fintech Afterpay in $29B deal
Jack Dorsey’s cryptocurrency-friendly digital payments firm Square is expanding competition with global payments giants like PayPal by acquiring a major...
InComm Payments merchants can now accept crypto through Flexa
Incomm Payments, a global payments provider with over 500,000 points of distribution, has entered into a partnership with Flexa that allows merchants to...
Price analysis 6/28: BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA, DOGE, XRP, DOT, UNI, BCH, LTC
Bitcoin (BTC) is attempting to stage a relief rally but analysts at JPMorgan Chase believe that the short-term setup looks challenging. However, the analysts...
Biden to discuss crypto’s role in ransomware attacks at G-7, says national security adviser
United States President Joe Biden will speak directly about cryptocurrency and its role in the attack on the Colonial Pipeline and other ransomware breaches,...
Don’t blame crypto for ransomware
Recently, gas has been a hot topic in the news. In the crypto media, it’s been about Ethereum miner’s fees. In the mainstream media, it’s been about good...
Congress passes digital asset innovation act to clarify crypto regulations
The United States House of Representatives on Tuesday passed H.R. 1602 — the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act — introduced by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC).H.R....
Bitcoin beats out final resistance as Ethereum returns to $2K
Bitcoin (BTC) briefly hit $60,000 on April 2 in the latest installment of its slow grind back to all-time highs.BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp)....
For The First Time Binance to Open in Uganda, Touch Fiat
The international cyber-currency trading venue Binance is getting ready for the set off of its crypto-fiat “subsidiary” in Uganda. Changpeng Zhao, the top...