Cryptocurrencies complicate effort to stop opioid dealers

The fight against the opioid crisis is facing a growing problem: Criminals are getting better at hiding the cryptocurrency transactions they use to buy drugs online.

The opioid crisis, which claims more than 100 lives a day, has been fueled partly by cryptoassets, but law enforcement is ramping up efforts to trace and halt their use in the illegal trade.

The Drug Enforcement Agency is “very much concerned” about the issue, an official from the agency told CQ Roll Call in an email. Criminal use of digital currencies to purchase drugs on so-called darknet websites, and even some publicly accessible ones, is “widespread,” the DEA official said last week.

The main purpose of using cryptocurrencies is to hide the transactions and the identities of those behind them. Of particular concern is fentanyl, which typically travels into the country from China or Mexico. The drug is a synthetic opioid, 50 times more potent than heroin, authorities say.

Two-thirds of the approximately…