The countrywide Digital Asset Coordinator Network was launched by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which comprises of more than 150 federal prosecutors.
According to the authority, the purpose of the new network would be to help it in dealing with the rising threat associated with the illicit use of digital assets to the American people.
DAC Network
On Friday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the Digital Asset Coordinator (DAC) network had been set up by its Criminal Division.
The Justice Department stated that the launch of this network was to enhance its efforts in combating the problem of the increasing number of illicit usage of digital assets for protecting the public.
The DOJ disclosed that the DAC Network would be led by the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) of the department.
The network is made up of 150 federal prosecutors from the offices of the US attorneys’ across the litigation components of the department.
The department also added that prosecutors will use the DAC Network as the forum for obtaining and sharing technical expertise, specialized training as well as guidance about the prosecution and investigation of digital asset crimes.
New criminal landscape
Kenneth A. Polite Jr., the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, said criminals now have a new landscape, thanks to digital assets.
He said that they were using this landscape for exploiting innovation in order to intensify the national security and criminal threats both locally and abroad.
He went on to say that with the DAC Network in place, both the NCET and the Criminal Division would be able to ensure that the department and prosecutors can deal with the criminal uses of digital asset technology, which continue to evolve.
The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) had been launched by the DOJ in the previous year in October.
Its purpose was for dealing with complex investigations and prosecuting the criminal use of crypto, especially tumbling and mixing services, criminal activities of virtual currency exchanges and actors involved in money laundering.
The purpose
The DOJ said that those who become part of the DAC Network will be taught about how existing laws and authorities are applicable to digital assets.
They would also learn the best practices that should be used for investigating crimes related to digital assets.
These include drafting warrants for search and seizure, indictments civil and criminal forfeiture actions, restraining orders and other pleadings.
The Justice Department also said that the DAC Network would also function as a source of information that would address new issues related to digital assets.
These include token-based platforms, smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi) and their use in criminal activity.
Apart from that, the DAC Network will also increase awareness of the international considerations that have to be made in terms of the crypto ecosystem.
These include the challenges associated with doing crypto investigations on an international scale and leveraging foreign relationships.
