IIB 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7338 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
To require congressional notification prior to payments of 
Department of State rewards using cryptocurrencies, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Russia Cryptocurrency 
Transparency Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On February 24, 2022, the Government of 
the Russian Federation, led by Vladimir Putin, 
launched an unprovoked, full-scale invasion of 
Ukraine. 
(2) This unprovoked act of aggression violates 
Ukraine’s right to independence, sovereignty, and 
territorial integrity, and constitutes an emergency in 
international relations. 
(3) The invasion by the Government of the 
Russian Federation of Ukraine caused significant 
displacement in Ukraine and triggered a broader hu-
manitarian crisis in Europe. 
(4) On March 23, 2022, the Department of 
State released a statement assessing that the Rus-
sian Armed Forces committed war crimes by launch-
ing indiscriminate attacks on civilians and non-mili-
tary infrastructure, including apartment buildings, 
schools, and hospitals, leaving thousands of innocent 
civilians killed or wounded. 
(5) The United Nations Office for Coordination 
of Humanitarian Affairs has projected that, over the 
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next three months, 12,000,000 people living in 
Ukraine 
will 
need 
humanitarian 
assistance, 
6,700,000 people will be internally displaced, and 
4,000,000 people will flee Ukraine. 
(6) Rapid humanitarian assistance is necessary 
6 across sectors to address the needs of refugees and 
internally displaced persons from Ukraine. 
(7) Cryptocurrency has been used as an effec-
tive cross-border payment tool to send millions to 
the Ukrainian Government, Ukrainian army, and 
Ukrainian refugees with limited access to financial 
services. 
(8) In response to the war of aggression by the 
Government of the Russian Federation, the United 
States has imposed an array of sanctions, cutting off 
major Russian financial institutions from Western 
markets and freezing the assets of numerous Rus-
sian oligarchs. 
(9) Given that regimes sanctioned by the 
United States have used cryptocurrencies to evade 
sanctions, there are increasing concerns that these 
digital assets may be used to circumvent the sanc-
tions now imposed on Russia and Belarus by the 
United States and other foreign countries. 
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SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATIONS FOR STATE DE-
PARTMENT CRYPTOCURRENCY REWARDS. 
(a) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Subsection (e) 
of section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities 
Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) The Secretary of State shall notify the ap-
propriate congressional committees not later than 15 
days before paying out a reward in cryptocurrency.’’. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re-
port on the use of cryptocurrency as a part of the Depart-
ment of State Rewards program that— 
(1) explains why the Department of State made 
the 
determination 
to 
pay 
out 
rewards 
in 
cryptocurrency; 
(2) lists each cryptocurrency payment already 
provided by the State Department; 
(3) provides evidence as to why cryptocurrency 
payments would be more likely to induce whistle-
blowers to come forward with information than re-
wards paid out in United States dollars or other 
prizes; 
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(4) analyzes how the State Department’s use of 
cryptocurrency could undermine the dollar’s status 
as the global reserve currency; and 
(5) examines if the State Department’s use of 
cryptocurrency could provide bad actors with addi-
tional hard-to-trace funds that could be used for 
criminal or illicit purposes. 
(c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit-
tees of Congress’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives; 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate. 
SEC. 4. REPORT ON BLOCKCHAIN USAGE FOR UKRANIAN 
HUMANITARIAN NEEDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 
in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury and 
the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the most effective 
avenues to promote economic development and provide hu-
manitarian aid to Ukraine, including possible uses of 
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cryptocurrencies or other technologies incorporating 
blockchains. Such report shall— 
(1) review and analyze the advantages offered 
by cross-border transactions involving digital assets 
relative to other traditional avenues for cross-border 
humanitarian relief payments and the reasons for 
those advantages, including structural barriers which 
may impact the cost, efficiency, and reliability of 
traditional payment channels; and 
(2) also review and analyze ways in which tech-
nologies incorporating blockchains can— 
(A) assist in the care, support, or resettle-
ment of refugees and internally displaced per-
sons from Ukraine; 
(B) address humanitarian access chal-
lenges and ensure the effective delivery of such 
assistance to persons from Ukraine; 
(C) increase efficiency, accountability, and 
transparency in the administration of humani-
tarian aid provided by the United States to per-
sons from Ukraine; 
(D) prevent corruption through the use of 
‘‘web3’’ technologies; 
(E) improve access to capital; and 
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(F) bolster the efficiency and reliability of 
cross-border remittances. 
(b) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a) 
shall be submitted in unclassified form and may include 
a classified annex. 
(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af-
fairs of the Senate. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVENESS AND ENFORCEMENT OF SANC-
TIONS. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) on March 9, 2022, President Biden issued 
an Executive Order outlining a national policy to 
mitigate the risks, and harness the potential benefits 
of, digital assets and distributed ledger technology; 
(2) the growing development and adoption of 
digital assets have created an urgent need for the 
United States to play a leading role in the global fi-
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nancial system and facilitate technological innova-
tion; 
(3) these developments have had significant im-
plications that pose risks to the financial stability 
and national security interest of the United States, 
including issues relating to privacy and surveillance; 
(1) the United States Government must— 
(A) ensure the efficacy and enforcement of 
the United States’ sanctions regime by pre-
venting the misuse of digital assets, which can 
facilitate transactions by Russian persons sub-
ject to sanctions; 
(B) mitigate national security liabilities 
and systemic financial risks posed by the mis-
use of digital assets by developing policy rec-
ommendations and addressing existing regu-
latory gaps; and 
(C) maintain technological leadership to 
promote United States global competitiveness 
and play a leading role in the global governance 
of digital assets. 
(b) REPORT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Sec-
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retary of State, shall submit a report to the appro-
priate congressional committees that provides an as-
sessment on how digital currencies affect the effec-
tiveness and enforcement of United States sanctions 
against the Russian Federation and actors subject to 
sanctions related to the Russian Federation’s inva-
sion of Ukraine. 
(2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report 
under paragraph (1) shall— 
(A) describe any efforts by the Russian 
Federation or persons subject to sanctions re-
lated to the Russian Federation’s invasion of 
Ukraine to utilize digital assets to evade the 
sanctions regimes of the United States and its 
international allies and partners; 
(B) describe any efforts by persons subject 
to sanctions related to the Russian Federation’s 
invasion of Ukraine to use decentralized finance 
technology or other similar technology to effect 
transactions, including digital wallets, digital 
asset trading platforms, and digital asset ex-
changes; 
(C) assess how the use or adoption of dig-
ital currencies could undermine the national se-
curity interests of the United States and impact 
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the efficacy and enforcement of sanctions, , and 
the enforcement of anti-money laundering pro-
visions; 
(D) detail actions taken by the United 
States government to work with private sector 
actors to combat the evasion of sanctions im-
posed by the United States; and 
(E) include recommendations for new legis-
lative and regulatory measures needed to 
strengthen the United States Government’s 
ability to prevent any states, state-sponsored 
actors, and non-state-sponsored actors from 
using digital currencies to evade sanctions im-
posed by the United States Government. 
(c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit-
tees of Congress’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives; 
(2) the Committee on Financial Services of the 
House of Representatives; 
(3) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate; and 
(4) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs of the Senate. 
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(d) REPORT FORM.—The report required under sub-
section (b) shall be submitted in unclassified form with 
a classified annex, if necessary. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 20, 
2022. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
By KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 
Deputy Clerk. 
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