The White House's second International Counter Ransomware Initiative summit has concluded, and this year the 36-nation group has made clear it intends to crack down on how cryptocurrencies are used to finance ransomware operations.
Last year's summit ended with far fewer actionable, concrete steps in this direction, concluding with a joint statement indicating"countering illicit finance" was a priority without stating in specific terms that the Countering Ransomware Initiative was focused on cryptocurrencies. The tone is more direct andThe White House, which hosted the summit, said the CRI group planned to"take joint steps to stop ransomware actors from being able to use the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The CRI group said its anti-crypto work will focus on"the development and implementation" standards to tackle"money laundering" and the"financing of terrorism".