Chris Giancarlo, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), wants to modernize the letters of marque and reprisal mechanism provided by Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution. The proposal would authorize private companies to hack back against state-sponsored cybercriminals such as the Lazarus Group after the theft of approximately $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion from the Bybit exchange. In August 2025, Representative David Schweikert introduced H.R. 4988, which would cover foreign criminal enterprises involved in cryptocurrency theft. However, a White House national security memorandum issued in August 2026 took a narrower approach focused on transnational criminal organizations rather than direct operations against state-sponsored actors. Markets have not reacted to the proposals, whose legal fate and practical implementation remain uncertain.
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