The “Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017” would provide for regulation of digital currency. The sponsors of the bill say that the reason for this is "to improve the prohibitions on money laundering, and for other purposes."
The bill expands the law requiring to disclose carrying $10,000 or more across country borders. This now is expanded to include digital currency. Failure to comply can result in civil forfeiture and up to 10 years in prison.
The Department of Homeland Security has a period of 18 months after ratification of this bill to report on how to detect cryptocurrencies at border crossings. As of this writing there is no such technology available.
Decentralization and anonymity of the crypto world will make this a very difficult task to accomplish. That’s one of the main points of cryptocurrency.
Another interesting aspect of this forfeiture law would be how to access crypto wallets that have encrypted codes not available to third parties. How enforcement officials intend to obtain these codes from individuals who resist compliance remains a mystery. Without voluntary compliance this borders on the impossible.
