New technologies almost always come with both significant benefits for society as well as negative externalities. It is the role of government officials to make policy that allows the benefits to flourish while protecting us from the downsides. On Thursday, the cryptocurrency custodian Anchorage Digital revealed that it has been chosen by the United States Marshals Service (USMS), a bureau within the US Department of Justice (DOJ), to handle the crypto assets confiscated by law enforcement agencies.
Anchorage Digital, is the first chartered bank for crypto and is the premier digital asset platform for institutions. Founded in 2017 to meet the growing need for institutional custody that lets investors safely hold and use crypto, Anchorage has grown into a full-service financial platform and infrastructure provider for the digital asset space.
An excerpt from the released statement:
“After more than a year-long process, we are proud to announce that Anchorage Digital has been selected as the provider of digital asset custody and financial services for the United States Marshals Service (USMS), one of the primary law enforcement agencies of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). This award speaks to both the quality of the platform we have developed and the stringent processes and procedures we have put in place around its use”.
The San Francisco-based firm said that it will provide the USMS a suite of cryptocurrency services such as custody, liquidation, audit compliance, management of blockchain forks, wallet creation, the transformation of token assets into coin assets, and actions associated with the forfeiture process of virtual currencies.
On June 7th, the Department of Justice announced that it has seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at approximately $2.3 million. The funds allegedly represented the proceeds of a May 8, ransom payment to individuals in a group known as DarkSide, which had targeted Colonial Pipeline, resulting in critical infrastructure being taken out of operation.
