US Treasury signals regulated crypto privacy may have a future in the US

The U.S. Treasury issued a report acknowledging that lawful users of digital assets may use mixers to protect financial privacy on public blockchains for purposes like shielding personal wealth or business payments. This marks a significant shift in official language, moving beyond describing mixers solely through the lens of illicit activity like sanctions evasion and ransomware. However, the report maintains the department's enforcement stance against criminals using mixing for illicit finance, citing significant flows from mixers to bridges linked to North Korean laundering. The policy shift appears driven by the massive scale of on-chain activity—reaching 3.8 billion monthly transactions—which introduces business risks for lawful users requiring confidentiality. Treasury signals acceptance of some confidentiality if service providers remain legible to the state, suggesting a preference for custodial mixers that register, comply as money services businesses, and maintain recordkeeping and suspicious activity reporting. This suggests a future where regulated entities can offer privacy tools, supporting institutional crypto growth, rather than granting a broad pardon for all mixers.

(Source：CryptoSlate)