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Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Chuck Grassley reintroduced a bill that would broaden the Secret Service’s investigative authority in certain financial cybercrime cases, including cases involving unlicensed money transmitters and digital-asset transactions. The Senate bill, S. 1273, was introduced on April 3, 2025, and referred to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. It is not law.
What the bill is—and what “re-up” means
The Combatting Money Laundering in Cyber Crime Act of 2025 is a bipartisan proposal sponsored by Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and cosponsored by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. “Re-up” means they brought the proposal back after an earlier version failed to advance in the 2024 Congress; it does not mean Congress renewed or amended an existing law.
The 2025 Senate measure is S. 1273. Its stated aim is to expand the Secret Service’s authority to investigate specified crimes involving digital-asset transactions, unlicensed money-transmitting businesses, structured transactions and fraud against financial institutions. Congress.gov’s bill record lists its introduction on April 3, 2025, and referral to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.
What gap the sponsors say they want to close
The Secret Service already investigates cyber-enabled financial crimes, including cases involving digital money. The sponsors’ narrower claim is that crimes conducted through unlicensed money-transmitting businesses fall outside the agency’s current jurisdiction. They argue that this can matter when criminal proceeds move across borders or through digital-asset systems. That is a claim about a particular category of offense—not a claim that the Secret Service has no cryptocurrency-related investigative role today. Grassley’s announcement of the bill describes the sponsors’ rationale.
These cases can involve three distinct issues: the underlying crime, such as ransomware or fraud; the movement or laundering of its proceeds, potentially through digital assets or an unlicensed transmitter; and which agency has statutory authority to investigate each offense. The bill addresses the third issue. It is not a general cryptocurrency-regulation proposal.
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What the introduced House text would change
The Senate and House measures are described by Congress.gov as identical bills. The accessible detailed text is the introduced version of H.R. 5877, the House companion. It would amend 18 U.S.C. § 3056(b), which governs Secret Service investigative authority. The House later ordered the measure reported “as amended,” so the introduced text should not be assumed to match the committee-reported version in every detail. The introduced House bill text sets out these proposed changes:
- Add 18 U.S.C. § 1960, which concerns unlicensed money-transmitting businesses, to the offenses within the Secret Service’s investigative authority.
- Add money laundering and structured transactions to the listed investigative categories.
- Remove “federally insured” from the financial-institution language and tie the definition of “financial institution” to 31 U.S.C. § 5312.
- Extend a FinCEN-related exchange period from five years to ten years.
- Extend a reporting period concerning international financial institutions from six years to ten years.
- Require a Government Accountability Office study within one year after enactment on implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and law enforcement’s ability to identify and deter money laundering in cybercrime.
Those provisions concern investigative authority, information exchange, reporting and review. The text does not establish a new general cryptocurrency regulator, a new appropriation, or new wiretap powers.
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Why a financial agency investigates cybercrime
The Secret Service’s cyber role developed from its financial-crimes mission. In 2020, it combined its Electronic Crimes Task Forces and Financial Crimes Task Forces into Cyber Fraud Task Forces, reflecting the overlap between cyber intrusions and financial crime. The agency describes the task forces as focused on complex cyber-enabled financial crimes. The Secret Service’s 2020 overview explains the change.
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Senate and House status
| Measure | Verified status |
|---|---|
| S. 1273 | Introduced April 3, 2025, and referred to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. The latest Senate action shown in the consulted Congress.gov record is referral. |
| H.R. 5877 | Introduced October 31, 2025. Congress.gov’s related-bill record says the House committee ordered it reported, as amended, on January 22, 2026, by a 54–0 vote. |
| Enactment | The consulted record does not show passage by both chambers, a presidential signature or a public-law number. |
A 54–0 committee vote is not House passage or enactment. The status described here reflects the Congress.gov record consulted; it does not establish whether later congressional action occurred. The 2024 version did not advance out of committee, according to CyberScoop’s contemporaneous coverage.
What the proposal does not mean
- It would not make every digital-asset transaction a Secret Service matter or itself criminalize ordinary cryptocurrency use.
- It would not make the Secret Service the lead agency in every ransomware, crypto-fraud or money-laundering case. Other federal and state agencies have relevant roles.
- It would not automatically supply agents, analysts, forensic capacity or international cooperation. Expanding authority and providing resources are separate questions.
- It would not, on the text described here, establish a general federal cryptocurrency regulator or create new surveillance powers.
Questions that remain
If enacted, the practical effect would depend on how the Secret Service coordinates with agencies including the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, FinCEN and the Justice Department. The bill’s proposed GAO review also points to a broader implementation question: whether existing anti-money-laundering systems help law enforcement identify and deter money laundering in cybercrime.
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The introduced text does not by itself resolve how investigative responsibilities would be divided, what resources would be available, or how amended House language compares with the Senate bill. Nor does a broader investigative mandate alone show that the proposal would prevent ransomware or fraud. Its central change is statutory authority over specified offenses and related information-sharing and review provisions.
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