The cryptocurrency industry is eager to comply with the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) so-called Travel Rule, and appears willing to work with regulators in order to expedite the process, a new survey found. As per a survey conducted by Notabene, a crypto compliance firm based in New York, most of the crypto industry will be Travel Rule-compliant by Q2 2022. Currently, the report claims that about 70% of respondents are either practicing the rule or planning to complete their compliance in Q1/Q2 2022. The advent of cryptocurrencies has presented a fresh problem in the effort to combat money laundering …

A top special agent from the Internal Revenue Service has told a conference that NFTs and crypto are the “future” but highlighted that fraud and manipulation is still rampant in the space. Ryan Korner from the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles field office made the comments virtual event held on Tuesday by the USC Gould School of Law, Korner. Bloomberg reports Korner said: “We’re just seeing mountains and mountains of fraud in this area.” He told the event the IRS CI division acknowledges the significant growth of the crypto sector, but noted that the usage of digital assets has not …

A new Chainalysis report has revealed that $8.6 billion in value was laundered through cryptocurrency in 2021. It marks a 25% increase from 2020, but still remains well below the high watermark hit in 2019. That year $10.9 billion in value was laundered via cryptocurrency. Since 2017, Chainalysis estimates that a total of $33.4 billion in crypto has been laundered. Chainalysis points out the $33.4 billion in crypto laundered since 2017 pales in comparison to the estimated $2 trillion in fiat is laundered yearly from offline crimes such as drug trafficking. However, a reliable assessment of the amount of fiat …

Cyprus is moving to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, with the country’s finance ministry releasing a national risk assessment on crypto. Published on Dec. 13, the official documentation provides a risk assessment for the Republic of Cyprus regarding money laundering risks related to virtual asset activities and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The Ministry of Finance of Cyprus stressed that there is a “limited direct understanding or experience” regarding money laundering risks of crypto in the country. However, authorities like Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and local enforcement authorities have demonstrated a “sophisticated level of understanding of the sector,” the …

The United States House Committee on Financial Services released a memorandum detailing the points of discussion during the hybrid hearing on digital assets, to be held today at 10:00 a.m. ET. Addressing the members of the Financial Services Committee, the memo confirmed that the hearing will dedicate one panel to six executives from the crypto community as witnesses. The list includes Circle’s Jeremy Allaire, FTX’s Samuel Bankman-Fried, Bitfury Group’s Brian Brooks, Paxos’ Charles Cascarilla, Stellar’s Denelle Dixon and Coinbase’s Alesia Jeanne Haas. The hearing, entitled “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation …

The White House, under the Biden-Harris administration, introduced a five-pillar strategy to counter corruption as a part of the core United States national security interest. The strategy involves establishing a new task force to address potential illicit activities on crypto exchanges and other services that can serve as avenues for money laundering. With the motive to enhance enforcement of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, as well as criminal and civil laws, the Federal government plans to implement new tools for investigating and prosecuting money laundering offenses. Specifically for cryptocurrencies, “PILLAR THREE: Holding Corrupt Actors Accountable” highlights: “DOJ [Deparment of Justice] will …

Israel has reportedly enacted new regulations related to the cryptocurrency industry in order to combat illegal activities like money laundering and terrorism financing. The government of Israel enforced new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations on Sunday, requiring local fintech companies and virtual currency service providers (VASPs) to obtain an operating license, local news agency Globes reported. The Israel Securities Authority, the Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings Authority, the country’s independent financial regulator, is now reportedly in the process of reviewing various VASPs that have applied for such a license. Shlomit Wegman, director of the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition …

Cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex is preparing to test out a new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) tool on its platform. The firm announced Wednesday that it will be testing a new solution designed for complying with the “Travel Rule,” an AML/Counter Financing of Terrorism regulation for financial institutions introduced by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2019. Bitfinex partnered with compliance startup Notabene to implement its software-as-a-service solution to identify virtual asset accounts, track cross-border transactions and comply with other broad obligations of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The integration will supposedly allow the firm to ensure privacy while collecting and managing …

The central bank of Spain is introducing new registration guidelines for local virtual currency service providers, or VASPs, including banking institutions. The Bank of Spain has issued instructions on VASP registration for Anti-Money Laundering, or AML, purposes, requiring institutions to submit their registration requests through an electronic registry, Cointelegraph en Español reported Oct. 25. Issuing the guidelines on Oct. 19, the Spanish central bank noted that the obligation to sign up in the registry applies to “all individuals and institutions providing virtual currency exchange services” like cryptocurrency trading and custody services. The regulator stressed that VASPs will have to register …

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has identified a major crypto criminal among those exposed to have funneled funds into shadowy tax havens in its “Pandora Papers.’ According to an Oct. 3 ICIJ document summarizing the organization’s findings from its Pandora Papers investigation, offshore assets belonging to a so-called “Bitcoin czar sentenced for money laundering in connection with the largest cyberheist in history” were identified to be handled by one of the firms. The Pandora Papers comprise a 2.94 terabyte data trove spanning 11.9 million records from 14 different offshore services providers. The documents claim to expose the hidden …

Brazilian lawmakers are working to provide stricter regulations for cryptocurrency-related crimes, approving a set of new penalties for laundering money with crypto. Brazil’s Special Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill that significantly tightens penalties for financial crimes that employ cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), according to an official announcement on Wednesday. The latest regulatory amendments are part of bill 2303/15, increasing the size of the fines from one-third of the amount of laundered money to two-thirds. The bill also proposes to raise minimum prison terms from three to four years, and increase maximum prison time from 10 …

As cryptocurrency investments get more popular in Russia, the country’s central bank is actively working to curb perceived suspicious crypto activity as well as block some crypto purchases. The Bank of Russia has started working with local banks to make them halt payments to cryptocurrency exchanges in order to protect customers from “emotional” purchases of crypto. Sergey Shvetsov, the first deputy governor at the Bank of Russia, argued that the new measures aim to protect Russian investors from potential losses in case the cryptocurrency market “crashes to zero,” local news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday. The latest anti-crypto move comes …