Law enforcement associations, anti-corruption advocates and a major banking group are warning that a new bill aimed at regulating the United States’ cryptocurrency industry could leave big gaps in safeguards against dirty money in digital currencies that have already become a financial vehicle for organized crime.

Known as the Clarity Act, the bill seeks to bring cryptocurrency under a single legal framework on the national level, ending years of the industry operating in gray areas. Crypto companies and President Donald Trump have heavily championed the bill. Defenders of the bill say that it fills a crucial regulatory vacuum and provides law enforcement with new tools to address crime. But critics argue it contains dangerous loopholes and prioritizes studies and pilot programs instead of holding all crypto services to stringent anti-money laundering standards.

This is largely window-dressing type regulation.

— Gary Kalman, executive director of Transparency International U.S.

In recent months, law enforcement groups including the National Sheriffs’ Association and the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys have sent letters to lawmakers voicing a common concern: They argue that the bill could create regulatory exemptions for certain decentralized and automated cryptocurrency services that criminals often rely on to obfuscate their fund flows.

Yesterday, four law enforcement groups representing police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors told the acting U.S. Attorney General that, despite discussions with senior officials across the Trump administration, their concern that the bill’s “broad exemptions could create gaps in oversight and accountability that sophisticated criminal actors may exploit” remains unresolved. The letter said its signatories represent more than 70,000 law enforcement professionals across the U.S.

“Criminal organizations increasingly utilize digital assets to facilitate and conceal unlawful activity, including narcotics trafficking, fraud, child exploitation, ransomware attacks, sanctions evasion, terrorism financing, organized retail crime, and other forms of transnational criminal activity,” the letter states, pointing to exemptions for some decentralized businesses. “Regulatory certainty should not come at the expense of accountability, transparency, victim protection, or public safety.”

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Key industry players disagree with these groups’ criticisms of the bill. The bill’s alleged loophole for decentralized services “does not exist,” Robin Cook, the director of U.S. Policy at the crypto giant Coinbase, told ICIJ in an interview. Cook points to a section 301 of the bill that he says will in fact bring most automated trading protocols under traditional anti-money laundering requirements.

“It is bringing new regulation at the federal level where there isn’t any today,” Cook told ICIJ. “That is not a deregulatory bill. The idea that somehow this is deregulatory is demonstrably false.”

The Coin Laundry, an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and 37 partner publications, found that criminals and other suspect actors commonly relied on decentralized trading protocols that can help make financial trails harder for law enforcement to trace.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/trump-administration-curbs-state-oversight-of-crypto-industry/

cryptocurrency Trump administration curbs state oversight of crypto industry May 15, 2026

https://www.icij.org/news/2025/07/landmark-cryptocurrency-legislation-passes-u-s-house-to-be-signed-into-law-by-president-trump/

CRYPTO Landmark cryptocurrency legislation passes US House, to be signed into law by President Trump Jul 18, 2025

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/cryptocurrency-exchanges-binance-okx-money-laundering-crime/

CRYPTOCURRENCY Crypto giants moved billions linked to money launderers, drug traffickers and North Korean hackers Nov 17, 2025

Recommended reading cryptocurrency Trump administration curbs state oversight of crypto industry May 15, 2026 CRYPTO Landmark cryptocurrency legislation passes US House, to be signed into law by President Trump Jul 18, 2025 CRYPTOCURRENCY Crypto giants moved billions linked to money launderers, drug traffickers and North Korean hackers Nov 17, 2025

Cyprus’ anti-corruption authority has found “potential acts of corruption” and “abuse of power” by former President Nicos Anastasiades during his 10 years in office, referring possible criminal charges to prosecutors for further scrutiny.

The country’s Independent Anti-Corruption Authority alleges Anastasiades may have improperly tried to influence investigations into suspected payments to political parties and politicians, intervened in a Russian oligarch’s citizenship application, and may have used his office to stymie an anti-money laundering probe involving his former law firm.

Last week, the authority announced the criminal referrals to the attorney general in a sprawling 16,000-word statement summarizing its investigation into allegations made in “Kratos Mafia,” or “Mafia State,” a 2022 book by Makarios Drousiotis, a former Anastasiades aide turned investigative journalist.

The announcement includes a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of Drousiotis’ book, following the watchdog’s two-year investigation into those allegations that fell under its purview. The authority said it issued summons and interviewed key witnesses, including Drousiotis and Anastasiades himself, who “testified for many hours, spanning more than one day.”

The referrals to the attorney general were made as part of a confidential “final report” comprising more than 3,000 pages, along with other supporting documents. The authority cautioned that every person mentioned in the report carried a presumption of innocence and that “only a court of law is competent to determine a person’s guilt.” Anastasiades has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The Independent Anti-Corruption Authority was created in 2022 under pressure from the European Union and the U.S. to address longstanding concerns about public corruption in Cyprus and its rise to become a crucial financial hub for Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cyprus-confidential/cyprus-model-politics-tax-haven-russian-wealth/

EUROPE How Cyprus rose to become the beating heart of the Putin regime’s shadow financial system Nov 14, 2023

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cyprus-confidential/cyprus-russia-eu-secrecy-tax-haven/

OVERVIEW Cyprus ignores Russian atrocities, Western sanctions to shield vast wealth of Putin allies Nov 14, 2023

https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/global-investigation-tax-havens-offshore/

GLOBAL OVERVIEW Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak Oct 03, 2021

Recommended reading EUROPE How Cyprus rose to become the beating heart of the Putin regime’s shadow financial system Nov 14, 2023 OVERVIEW Cyprus ignores Russian atrocities, Western sanctions to shield vast wealth of Putin allies Nov 14, 2023 GLOBAL OVERVIEW Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak Oct 03, 2021

New studies presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual conference suggest that reducing the dosage of anti-cancer medicines — including Keytruda, the world’s bestselling drug — could drastically cut global health costs by billions of dollars a year and improve access for patients.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the initial dosage of Keytruda in 2014 based on a patient’s body weight, at 2 milligrams per kilogram. But Merck & Co., the maker of the drug, later changed to a fixed dosage with the FDA’s approval. Now Merck recommends 200 mg every three weeks or 400 mg every six weeks, regardless of the patient’s weight.

The studies discussed last week at the ASCO conference in Chicago, however, indicate that patients are receiving more of Keytruda and similar cancer drugs than necessary, which dramatically pushes up consumer costs and corporate profits — and that smaller doses work just as well. One study estimated the savings at more than $30 billion annually.

We found that by lowering the dose, we can expand access by 50 to 60%.

— Kumar Prabhash, oncologist at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.

Merck disagrees with that finding, saying in a statement to ICIJ that the FDA-approved doses “are based upon wide-ranging preclinical data and extensive clinical evidence.”

Meanwhile, an official from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told ICIJ that the agency supports scaling back cancer treatments if evidence shows it is safe to do so. Emily G. Hilliard, the agency’s senior press secretary, said the FDA “will continue to work with oncologic drug developers to determine the appropriate dosages that are safe and effective for patients.”

“[The National Cancer Institute] supports efforts to de-escalate cancer therapies when the evidence shows that fewer drugs or lower doses can be administered safely and effectively,” Hilliard said in a statement. “Receiving less treatment while maintaining efficacy can improve a patient’s quality of life, lower costs, require fewer clinic visits, and, most importantly, reduce treatment-related toxicity. Our goal is to ensure patients receive the most effective treatment with the fewest possible side effects.”

The Cancer Calculus, an investigation by ICIJ and 47 media partners published in April, shows how Merck has kept the price of the lifesaving drug sky-high by building a fortress of patents to deter competition and through opaque pricing. In the U.S., for example, a 200 mg dose of Keytruda costs $12,000, according to an ICIJ analysis.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/merck-keytruda-cancer-drug-price/

OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/keytruda-evergreening-patents-merck/

INTERACTIVE How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda’s exorbitant price Apr 13, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/mexico-seizes-suspicious-keytruda-in-raid-to-dismantle-counterfeit-medication-ring/

COUNTERFEITS Mexico seizes suspicious Keytruda in raid to dismantle counterfeit medication ring Jun 04, 2026

Recommended reading OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026 INTERACTIVE How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda’s exorbitant price Apr 13, 2026 COUNTERFEITS Mexico seizes suspicious Keytruda in raid to dismantle counterfeit medication ring Jun 04, 2026

nce, she said, “will give us the strength to persist and request our [Ministry of Health] and the national health council to proceed for less dose and to sponsor it and support it.”

Editor’s note: Arnold Ventures has been a funder of ICIJ. Funders have no involvement in ICIJ’s editorial decisions.