New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James sent a letter To the leaders of the congress on April 10 exhorting the adoption of federal legislation to establish a regulatory framework for the crypto.
The letter argued that the lack of national rules increases the risk of financial fraud, criminal violence and market instability in the digital asset sector.
The Attorney General James said that Crypto -related scams represent 10% of all financial fraud incidents and 50% of total dollar losses in fraud cases.
It cited about $ 12 billion in losses against cryptographic fraud in 2024 only. In his letter, James said that stronger federal surveillance would reduce these losses and improve investors’ protections, stabilize financial markets and strengthen national security.
In addition, the letter stressed that the absence of federal regulations allows prices handling and opaque practices on cryptographic markets.
James called on legislation that would impose uniform standards on cryptographic companies operating in the United States, including registration requirements and compulsory efforts to identify and mitigate fraud.
It noted that due to their pseudonym nature, digital assets are increasingly used to facilitate criminal operations and, in some cases, the opponents funded.
Surveillance of stablescoins, platforms and retirement accounts
The letter has proposed several provisions, including legislation forcing stable issuers to be based in the United States and maintaining reserves in US dollars or treasury vouchers. As part of the proposed framework, these issuers and other intermediaries would also be subject to registration and compliance obligations.
James has also recommended to restrict cryptographic transactions to platforms in accordance with the fight against money laundering (AML) and to prohibit the inclusion of digital assets in retirement accounts.
NYAG has also compiled a list of legal requirements that could have created broader transparency on cryptographic markets. These include protections against conflicts of interest, the increase in the disclosure of prices and regulatory responsibility for all intermediaries.
She has written that such standards are necessary to protect retail investors from opaque and fraudulent commercial practices that continue to evolve without complete supervision.
The letter follows the recent restructuring by the United States Ministry of Justice for the application of cryptographic fraud. James argued that regulatory clarity is now critical given this change in the federal application posture.
She added that the application of the application cannot only be incumbent on state regulators, especially since digital assets are increasingly anchored in financial systems.
The letter reiterated James’ position according to which uniform federal legislation is essential to prevent market abuses and promote responsibility. She argued that clear federal rules could help eliminate gaps that allow fraudulent activities to persist through the courts.
