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| Jennifer Shasky Calvery, left, with Mythili Raman and Edward Lowery on Monday at a hearing in Washington. |
A number of federal officials told a Senate hearing that such financial networks offered real benefits for the financial system even as they acknowledged that new forms of digital money had provided avenues for money laundering and illegal activity.
“There are plenty of opportunities for digital currencies to operate within existing laws and regulations,” said Edward Lowery, a special agent with the Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting the integrity of the dollar.
Signs that the government would not stand in the way of bitcoin’s development, even as it has been cracking down on criminal networks that use the digital money, stoked a strong rally in the price of the crypto-currency.
By Monday evening, the value of a bitcoin unit soared past $700 on some exchanges. The total outstanding pool of bitcoin — which is created by a network of users who solve complex mathematical problems — is now worth more than $7 billion.
