SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Technology 
Protection Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY WORKING 
GROUP TO COMBAT TERRORISM AND ILLICIT 
FINANCING. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Inde-
pendent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat 
Terrorism and Illicit Financing (in this section referred 
to as the ‘‘Working Group’’), which shall consist of the 
following: 
(1) The Secretary of the Treasury, acting 
through the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Fi-
nancial Intelligence, who shall serve as the chair of 
the Working Group. 
(2) A senior-level representative from each of 
the following: 
(A) Each of the following components of 
the Department of the Treasury: 
(i) The Financial Crimes Enforcement 
Network. 
(ii) The Internal Revenue Service. 
(iii) The Office of Foreign Assets 
Control. 
(B) The Department of Justice and each 
of the following components of the Department:
(i) The Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion. 
(ii) The Drug Enforcement Adminis-
tration. 
(C) The Department of Homeland Security 
and the United States Secret Service. 
(D) The Department of State. 
(E) The Central Intelligence Agency. 
(3) Five individuals appointed by the Under 
Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence 
to represent the following: 
(A) Financial technology companies. 
(B) Blockchain intelligence companies. 
(C) Financial institutions. 
(D) Institutions or organizations engaged 
in research. 
(E) Institutions or organizations focused 
on individual privacy and civil liberties. 
(b) DUTIES.—The Working Group shall— 
(1) conduct research on terrorist and illicit use 
of new financial technologies, including digital as-
sets; and 
(2) develop legislative and regulatory proposals 
to improve anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist,
and other counter-illicit financing efforts in the 
United States. 
(c) REPORTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an-
nually for the 3 years thereafter, the Working Group 
shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury, the 
heads of each agency represented in the Working 
Group pursuant to subsection (a)(2), and the appro-
priate congressional committees a report containing 
the findings and determinations made by the Work-
ing Group in the previous year and any legislative 
and regulatory proposals developed by the Working 
Group. 
(2) FINAL REPORT.—Before the date on which 
the Working Group terminates under subsection 
(d)(1), the Working Group shall submit to the ap-
propriate congressional committees a final report de-
tailing the findings, recommendations, and activities 
of the Working Group. 
(d) SUNSET.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group shall, 
subject to paragraph (3), terminate on the date that 
is 4 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
(2) EXPIRATION
AND
RETURN
OF
APPRO-
PRIATED FUNDS.—On the date on which the Work-
ing Group terminates under paragraph (1)— 
(A) all authorities granted to the Working 
Group under this section shall expire, subject to 
paragraph (3); and 
(B) any funds appropriated for the Work-
ing Group that are available for obligation as of 
that date shall be returned to the Treasury. 
(3) AUTHORITY TO WIND UP ACTIVITIES.—The 
termination of the Working Group under paragraph 
(1) and the expiration of authorities under para-
graph (2) shall not affect any research, proposals, or 
other related activities of the Working Group ongo-
ing as of the date on which the Working Group ter-
minates under paragraph (1). Such research, pro-
posals, and other related activities may continue 
until their completion. 
SEC. 3. PREVENTING ROGUE AND FOREIGN ACTORS FROM 
EVADING SANCTIONS. 
(a) REPORT AND STRATEGY WITH RESPECT TO DIG-
ITAL ASSETS AND OTHER RELATED EMERGING TECH-
NOLOGIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
President, acting through the Secretary of the 
Treasury and in consultation with the head of each 
agency represented on the Independent Financial 
Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism 
and Illicit Financing pursuant to section 2(a)(2), 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees a report that describes— 
(A) the potential uses of digital assets and 
other related emerging technologies by States, 
non-State actors, foreign terrorist organiza-
tions, and other terrorist groups to evade sanc-
tions, finance terrorism, or launder monetary 
instruments, and threaten the national security 
of the United States; and 
(B) a strategy how the United States will 
mitigate and prevent the illicit use of digital as-
sets and other related emerging technologies. 
(2) FORM OF REPORT; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The report required by 
paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified 
form, but may include a classified annex. 
(B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The unclassi-
fied portion of each report required by para-
graph (1) shall be made available to the public
and posted on a publicly accessible website of 
the Department of Treasury— 
(i) 
in 
precompressed, 
easily 
downloadable versions, in all appropriate 
formats; and 
(ii) in machine-readable format, if ap-
plicable. 
(3) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—In preparing 
the reports required by paragraph (1), the President 
may utilize any credible publication, database, or 
web-based resource, and any credible information 
compiled by any government agency, nongovern-
mental organization, or other entity that is made 
available to the President. 
(b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 2 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 
shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on 
the implementation of the strategy required by subsection 
(a)(2). 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means—
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Finance, 
the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, 
and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Financial Services, 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security, the Committee 
on the Judiciary, the Committee on Way and 
Means, and the Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 
(2) BLOCKCHAIN
INTELLIGENCE
COMPANY.— 
The term ‘‘blockchain intelligence company’’ means 
any business providing software, research, or other 
services 
(such 
as 
blockchain 
tracing 
tools, 
geofencing, transaction screening, the collection of 
business data, and sanctions screening) that— 
(A) support private and public sector in-
vestigations and risk management activities; 
and 
(B) involve cryptographically secured dis-
tributed ledgers or any similar technology or 
implementation.
(3) DIGITAL ASSET.—The term ‘‘digital asset’’ 
means any digital representation of value that is re-
corded on a cryptographically secured digital ledger 
or any similar technology. 
(4) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘foreign terrorist organization’’ means an or-
ganization that is designated as a foreign terrorist 
organization under section 219 of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). 
(5) ILLICIT
USE.—The term ‘‘illicit use’’ in-
cludes fraud, darknet marketplace transactions, 
money laundering, the purchase and sale of illicit 
goods, sanctions evasion, theft of funds, funding of 
illegal activities, transactions related to child sexual 
abuse material, and any other financial transaction 
involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity 
(as defined in section 1956(c) of title 18, United 
States Code). 
(6) TERRORIST.—The term ‘‘terrorist’’ includes 
a person carrying out domestic terrorism or inter-
national terrorism (as such terms are defined, re-
spectively, under section 2331 of title 18, United 
States Code). 
Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 2024. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2969 
AN ACT 
To establish an Independent Financial Technology 
Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit 
Financing, and for other purposes.