Share this article
U.S. Treasury Describes NFTs as 'Highly Susceptible to Use in Fraud and Scams'
"Illicit actors can use NFTs to launder proceeds from predicate crimes, often in combination with other methods to obfuscate the illicit source of proceeds of crime," the Treasury found.
Updated May 29, 2024, 7:00 p.m. Published May 29, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
- The risk assessment is the Treasury's first into NFTs as a means of carrying out fraud and other crimes.
- The Treasury determined that NFT platforms "lack appropriate controls" to combat money laundering and sanctions evasion.
The U.S. Treasury Department said non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are "highly susceptible to use in fraud and scams and are subject to theft," in a new risk assessment about illicit finance, its first into NFTs as a means of carrying out fraud and other crime.
"The report determines that illicit actors can use NFTs to launder proceeds from predicate crimes, often in combination with other methods to obfuscate the illicit source of proceeds of crime," the Treasury said on Wednesday.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The Treasury also determined that NFT platforms "lack appropriate controls" to combat money laundering and sanctions evasion. Therefore it recommends further application of regulations to NFTs and the platforms they are traded on.
A U.S. government study into NFTs in March concluded that no specific legislation was required to deal with concerns around copyright and trademark infringement. The Treasury's assessment, however, addresses the financial aspect of the NFT market more directly.
Read More: NFT Providers May Need Registration to Comply With UK Money Laundering Rules
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Senate confirms Trump crypto-friendly nominees to take over CFTC, FDIC
In a package of confirmations, the U.S. Senate approved Mike Selig to lead the CFTC and Travis Hill to run the FDIC, both with major potential reach into crypto.
What to know:
- The U.S. Senate moved to confirm a massive package of President Donald Trump's nominees on Thursday, including two officials with important regulator roles over the crypto sector.
- The chamber approved the confirmations of Mike Selig to run the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Travis Hill to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
- Selig will have a leading role as a crypto watchdog, replacing Acting Chairman Caroline Pham, who has been pushing an aggressive crypto policy agenda in the absence of a permanent agency chief.
Top Stories
