Europol has set up a working group combatting money laundering with digital currency. Experts say it’s good for the industry. On 9 Sept 2016, Europol announced the launch of a Bitcoin money laundering division in partnership with INTERPOL and the Basel Institute on Governance . The terms of reference The announcement claims that the aims of this setup are to: Gather, analyse, and exchange non-operational information regarding the use of digital currencies as a means of money laundering, and the investigation and recovery of proceeds of crime stored in the same form. Organise annual workshops and meetings for the representatives of the above mentioned law enforcement agencies and institutions to increase their capacity to successfully investigate crimes in which virtual currencies are involved. Create a network of practitioners and experts in this field, who can collectively establish best practices and provide assistance and recommendations inside and outside of the working group. Good for the industry Despite fears by many Bitcoin users that this could be a move to hunt down the cryptocurrency, experts think otherwise. Jonathan Chester is a member of a working group who is working with the European Parliament on the subjects of Bitcoin and the Blockchain. It seems clear, says Chester, that the two main objectives of lawmakers in this matter are anti-money laundering, specifically as it pertains to terrorism, and consumer protection. The objectives of Europol, INTERPOL and the Basel Institute on Governance is to collectively focus on criminal intelligence. Chester says to Cointelegraph that it is very likely that this task force has been set up with the objective of, first, learning if digital currencies are being used for terrorist financing, and, second, if so, finding out ways to track and stop the users who are using the technology in this way. Chester is […]
