Former DOJ attorney to be appointed as deputy virtual currency chief by NYDFS

More of a focus on regulation through enforcement, may be suggested by Debra Brookes’ new role with the New York State Department of Financial Services

Before becoming deputy virtual currency chief for its Research and Innovation Division in March, an attorney who has been working at New York’s Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, since 2013, Brookes has served in key roles in the department’s Enforcement Division, Financial Frauds and Consumer Protection Division, and Consumer Protection and Financial Enforcement Division. For five years, she worked as a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, which is prior to her recent appointment and in which she has participated and led to investigations on complex white-collar.

Also, resulting in many high-profile accounts sending tweets fraudulently promising followers that they would double Bitcoin (BTC) payments sent to a specific address, she did contribute to that NYDFS report about the July 2020 hack on Twitter. Though the former DOJ attorney’s views on crypto have not been widely reported.

“Cryptocurrency companies had robust programs around cybersecurity, fraud-prevention, and anti-money laundering programs, according to NYDFS repor, which Brooks participated.

Though the former DOJ attorney’s views on crypto have not been widely reported, she did contribute to a NYDFS report about the July 2020 hack on Twitter, which resulted in many high-profile accounts sending tweets fraudulently promising followers that they would double Bitcoin (BTC) payments sent to a specific address. That report concluded that “cryptocurrency companies had robust programs around cybersecurity, fraud-prevention, and anti-money laundering programs.”

With regulatory authority over many crypto exchanges and firms, the NYDFS has approved Goldman Sachs-backed crypto custodian BitGo to operate as an independent custodian in New York. The regulator has also granted BitLicenses — digital currency licenses that allow firms to do business with customers and companies based in the state — to both global crypto payments processor BitPay and institutional cryptocurrency exchange Bakkt.

 

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