My job is straightforward: help keep people safe, enforce court orders, and work alongside law enforcement to uphold the rule of law. Every day, I see firsthand the impact crime has on Arizona families. Increasingly, those crimes are moving online, and cryptocurrency is becoming a common tool for fraudsters and criminal organizations.

While cryptocurrency advocates tout innovation and economic opportunity, those of us on the front lines see a different side of the story. We see retirees lose their life savings to investment scams. We see criminals use digital assets to move money across borders and beyond the reach of traditional financial safeguards. And we see victims left with little recourse because cryptocurrency transactions are difficult to trace and nearly impossible to reverse once the money is gone.

According to the FBI’s latest Internet Crime Report, Americans lost more than $11 billion to cryptocurrency-related fraud in 2025 alone. Crypto-related complaints generated the highest financial losses of any fraud category, with more than 181,000 victims reporting losses. Investment scams involving digital assets accounted for billions of dollars stolen from hardworking Americans. Even more concerning, the trend is accelerating. Cryptocurrency-related losses rose by more than 20% from the previous year, contributing to nearly $21 billion in total cybercrime losses nationwide.

These cases present unique challenges for law enforcement. Unlike traditional banking systems, cryptocurrency transactions can move through multiple digital wallets, foreign exchanges, and opaque financial networks in a matter of minutes. Investigators often face significant jurisdictional hurdles and a lack of transparency when attempting to trace stolen funds. Criminals understand these vulnerabilities, which is why cryptocurrency has become an increasingly attractive vehicle for fraud, money laundering and other illicit activity.

Despite these growing risks, Congress is considering legislation that could significantly expand the cryptocurrency marketplace. The CLARITY Act is being promoted as a framework for regulating digital assets and encouraging innovation. While those goals may be well-intentioned, innovation without strong safeguards comes at a cost.

Before Congress opens the door wider to cryptocurrency markets, lawmakers must ensure that robust anti-money laundering protections are in place to prevent criminals from exploiting the system.

That is where Arizona’s senators have an important responsibility. Sen. Ruben Gallego has spoken about the importance of fostering innovation and ensuring the United States remains competitive in emerging financial technologies. Those are worthy goals. But innovation and public safety are not mutually exclusive. In fact, any sustainable financial system requires both.

No lawmaker should support legislation that expands cryptocurrency markets without first addressing the very real risks that law enforcement officers, financial crime investigators, and fraud victims confront every day.

As someone entrusted with protecting Arizona communities, I urge Senator Gallego and his colleagues to put public safety first. The CLARITY Act should not move forward unless it applies the same strong anti-money laundering requirements that banks must follow and includes meaningful protections against fraud, scams and illicit finance across all platforms, including decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.

Arizona families deserve financial innovation that is safe, transparent and accountable. They deserve a system that protects honest investors while giving law enforcement the tools necessary to combat fraud and money laundering. Most importantly, they deserve leaders who stand with victims, not special interests seeking weaker oversight.

Congress has an opportunity to strike the right balance between innovation and accountability. It should seize that opportunity before more Americans pay the price.

Pedro Lopez is a constable in Country Meadows Justice Court.