CFA Renews Accusations Against Circle, Says CCTP May Be Funding Terrorism via Tron

cryptonews.com:

The Campaign for Accountability (CFA), a nonprofit ethics watchdog, renewed its accusations against Circle on December 14, alleging that the company’s Cross Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) is enabling money laundering and potentially funding terrorism.

In an open letter addressed to Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown, CFA executive director Michelle Kuppersmith claimed that Circle’s CCTP “may be used to facilitate what appears to be the fastest growing vehicle for illicit finance in the digital asset space.” She pointed specifically to the protocol’s support for transfers to the Tron blockchain network.

“Tron has been named in multiple law enforcement actions involving billions of dollars in transactions by alleged organized crime groups and sanctioned entities,” the letter stated.

NEW: This morning, CfA sent a letter to @SenSherrodBrown and @SenWarren highlighting incomplete & misleading information shared by stablecoin-issuer Circle in response to previous concerns that CfA raised about its operations.https://t.co/88urQqriKF

— Campaign for Accountability (@Accountable_Org) December 14, 2023

Kuppersmith argued that by allowing USDC stablecoin transfers to Tron, Circle is effectively enabling money laundering and criminal activity on the network.

These accusations originally surfaced last month, when the CFA sent its first letter to the senators accusing Circle of inadequate anti-money laundering practices.

At the time, Circle’s head of public policy Dante Disparte strongly denied the claims in a blog post, stating that the allegations were based on unverified social media posts. Disparte emphasized that Circle actively monitors blockchain activity and suspends access to suspicious counterparties, while also