The U.S. government delves into cryptocurrency accountability with a $ 10 million bounty

The U.S. Department of State has announced it will take a more active role in the effort to hold certain crypto users accountable.

As Bloomberg reported on Thursday, the Biden administration intends to step up its efforts to track crypto payments, especially when it comes to ransomware attacks. The government plans to address cybersecurity and the payment role of cryptocurrencies in such attacks.

The report comes as the State Department recently announced its Rewards for Justice program, which offers rewards of up to $ 10 million to help identify those responsible for the attacks. The government agency says it has set up a line through the Tor browser network – which was developed by US officials for anonymous internet communications – and can offer cryptocurrency payments to get relevant information about ransomware attacks.

Last month, US officials on a government task force seized more than $ 2 million in cryptocurrency used to pay ransom after an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system. Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at the time that asset seizure was the first major operation under the Task Force’s mission to investigate, disrupt and track cyber attacks on infrastructure.

Connected: Report urges US government to focus on blockchain, cryptocurrency and “digital dollars”

The traceability – or lack of traceability – of cryptocurrencies is at the core of the appeal of users looking to protect their funds from government surveillance while looking frustrated by lawmakers trying to tax crypto holdings and allocate funds for illegal activity prevent. Last year, the IRS offered a bounty of $ 625,000 to anyone who could help track transactions on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (BTC) as well as privacy coins, including Monero (XMR).