The US Department of the Treasury believes that the “transparency” of the blockchain will effectively detect the criminal use of cryptocurrencies.
United States Department of the Treasury
prepared a three-year report covering, among other things, the role of cryptocurrencies in money laundering, terrorist financing and illegal financial transactions. The document states that the illegal use of cryptocurrencies threatens US national security.
The authors of the report note that the set of tools for money laundering using cryptocurrencies is evolving. The greatest contribution to this development is made by DeFi and “technologies for increasing anonymity”.
The report claims that during the pandemic, cryptocurrencies played a significant role in phishing attacks and ransomware scams. The attackers promised high returns in the volatile cryptocurrency market by persuading victims to reveal personal information or install malware on their devices. The criminals then extorted or stole users’ money.
Analysts at the Ministry of Finance believe that the use of cryptocurrencies as a method of laundering illegally obtained money is growing. However, the US Department of the Treasury acknowledges that fiat currency is still used in illegal transactions much more often than crypto assets.
“The use of virtual assets for money laundering is much lower than fiat currencies and traditional methods in general,” the report says.
The authors of the report believe that cryptocurrencies both facilitate and discourage financial crime. On the one hand, peer-to-peer transactions and personal wallets help crypto holders avoid financial controls that are traditionally aimed at centralized intermediaries. On the other hand, most blockchains, including Bitcoin, use transparent public ledgers that make it easier to track down criminals.
Last week, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported that Mexican and Colombian drug cartels have seen an increase in the use of bitcoin to sell drugs and launder money. In February, analytics firm Chainalysis reported that as of the end of 2021, $11 billion worth of crypto assets are held in wallets linked to illicit activities. the growth of money laundering through NFTs.
Source: Bits
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