A couple of years ago I wrote a tweet thread about how I'd begun to see people in the crypto and finreg spaces expressing excitement about the traceability of cryptocurrencies.

Thinking back to it as I watch Senators and crypto industry executives talk about how delightfully traceable public blockchains are. No pesky warrant required!

Molly White @molly0xFFF 1:33 PM · Feb 14, 2023 the past ~month or so i've suddenly started seeing a bunch of people in crypto and in the financial regulatory/enforcement world who are unironically excited about crypto because of the financial surveillance it could empower, and that scares the shit out of me the other day i was listening to a conversation about how "algorithms" could detect criminal activity occurring on public ledgers in real time to automatically alert law enforcement, or be programmed into the money itself to stop transactions. [Screenshot of a text message: "or I'm going to move to a cabin in the woods with a faraday cage built around it"] anyone know any good welders? i run into people somewhat regularly who think that because i don't like crypto, i support unfettered government/LEO surveillance of personal finances. like, no, that's part of WHY i don't like crypto
Senator Tim Scott: And let's set the record straight. Crypto isn't lawless, it's traceable. In fact, crypto companies are helping law enforcement track illicit activity with greater precision than traditional finance allows. Jonathan Levin, Chainalysis CEO: But the unprecedented visibility offered by the public blockchain has to be factored into the assessment of both activity and risk. With the right tools, the public ledger becomes a powerful resource for market participants, regulators, and law enforcement to protect financial integrity. ... Getting the right regulations in place will ... require the government to leverage the transparency and available real-time information for effective supervision. Senator Tim Scott: There's a common belief that money laundering is easy with crypto, but the truth is it's not. Blockchain technology creates a permanent traceable ledger that can help law enforcement catch those bad actors. I've said it before, so I'll say it again: It's far easier to track something that has a digital footprint than something that does not. Senator Britt: And transactions on the blockchain offer a unique ability for tracing and tracking, including analyzing trends on the ledger. Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO: I think the good news has been in many cases they don't often understand how traceable and trackable that actually is and it's more trackable than, obviously, cash.
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