Cryptocurrencies and Financial Crime

[CoinJoker69]

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies undoubtedly offer new opportunities for financial transactions. However, they can also be used for purposes of financial crime, such as fraud and money laundering. The absence of central control and the pseudonymous nature of transactions make cryptocurrencies appealing for illicit activities.

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

[Oshosondy]

That is what the central bank of many countries do say. That cryptocurrencies help the criminals and make them to easily make transactions which are not traceable. But there are many transactions that involve huge amount of bitcoin that people thought the criminals will not be known, but later known.

After the development of other coins which are altcoins and their swapping, altcoins like USDT on Tron blockchain and privacy coins have become what the criminals are using. Little amount of bitcoin is involved in illicit activities.

Fiat is neither the solution because it has been existing before bitcoin and it is used very well for criminal activities. Fiat is used for money laundering, terrorism financing, ransom payment and used as a means of transaction in online and offline scam. Despite the central banks and many government say crypto helps in online criminal activities, their fiat helps more in criminal activities, both online and offline.

[tranthidung]

After the development of other coins which are altcoins and their swapping, altcoins like USDT on Tron blockchain and privacy coins have become what the criminals are using. Little amount of bitcoin is involved in illicit activities.

Many inaccuracies.

• Bitcoin is a biggest cryptocurrency and it has biggest trading volume. It is a most favorite cryptocurrency for mixer services. You can find many Bitcoin mixers but very little altcoin mixers.
• You can argue with me but you can look at signature campaigns in Bitcointalk, if they are from mixers, Bitcoin mixers.
• With high volume of Bitcoin, it's more easily to do that with Bitcoin than with altcoins.
• Not all bitcoins or cryptocurrencies used in mixers are for illicit activities like money laundering.

[Z390]

Fraud and money laundering? Good luck with that, even big time hackers end up with Bitcoins or assets that they can't sell and they have the option to either return the stolen assets or get trapped with tagged address forever.

You can't steal Bitcoin and escape with it unless it's small amount from normal investors, this days transactions can be tracked and your KYC information can be the shit that leads to your arrest, I hope you aren't trying to look for a way to go fully criminal? Kidding.

It's why the government don't like mixing services, that seems to be the only secured way left that criminals are using to get away with crime on the blockchain these days.

[Yogee]

[....]What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

If it's only to mitigate then maybe forcing all platforms that are offering all types of crypto services to get license to operate is one solution. Follow up to that is requiring upfront KYC for all users. Criminals will most likely think twice since their financial activities can be monitored.

[Nwada001]

I don't think there is anything that can be done to stop crypto currencies from being used for illegal activities. If the banking system, which is controlled, can't control and stop illegal transactions from going on in their bank, then how do you think that can also be possible with Bitcoin, which doesn't have any centralized authority controlling it?
 
The only thing that I see as needing to be done is to fight and try to stop those who are using Bitcoin for illegal activities. If those people can be stopped, then there will be a lesser problem. Bitcoin is not the problem; the people using it for illegal activities are the major problem.

[TribalBob]

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

there is nothing that can be done by any party to develop cases of fraud and money laundering in crypto form, unless the government legalizes crypto for all transactions in its country, in contrast to fiat which is regulated by the government,
that's what I'm thinking right now about what you said

[Oshosondy]

Many inaccuracies.

• Bitcoin is a biggest cryptocurrency and it has biggest trading volume. It is a most favorite cryptocurrency for mixer services. You can find many Bitcoin mixers but very little altcoin mixers.
• You can argue with me but you can look at signature campaigns in Bitcointalk, if they are from mixers, Bitcoin mixers.
• With high volume of Bitcoin, it's more easily to do that with Bitcoin than with altcoins.
• Not all bitcoins or cryptocurrencies used in mixers are for illicit activities like money laundering.

Inaccuracies? No

Why did you only focus on mixers?

Bitcoin is the most traded cryptocurrencies, but that does not mean it is the most used in illicit activities when talking of cryptocurrencies. It was before but as more altcoins come, hackers turned to other the altcoins. If you have been reading more about DeFi and DAO hack, you will know that hackers and scammers are moving away from bitcoin towards altcoins.

According to TRM, bitcoin used in criminal activities is reducing and replaced by altcoins:



https://www.trmlabs.com/illicit-crypto-ecosystem-report-2023

[m2017]

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies undoubtedly offer new opportunities for financial transactions. However, they can also be used for purposes of financial crime, such as fraud and money laundering. The absence of central control and the pseudonymous nature of transactions make cryptocurrencies appealing for illicit activities.

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

Yes, bitcoin can be used for criminal purposes, but the proportion of this is insignificant compared to cash. All real crimes are committed using cash and the influence of btc is greatly exaggerated in this. Why would an average villain use bitcoin with all the complexities in the form of wallets, transactions and other things that will surely leave traces when you can use cash, the movement of which no one will track and it is impossible to understand who and to whom, as well as what paid for.

You say bitcoin is pseudo-anonymous. OK. But cash is 100% anonymous.

I believe that all this information about the use of cryptocurrencies for criminal purposes is being spread on purpose because banks and governments can't control it. If they wanted to prevent crime, then why didn't they abolish and ban cash, as they are trying to do with btc? Perhaps soon this will happen with the advent of CBDC.

[20kevin20]

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

• Modify the source code so Bitcoin transactions can only be sent with confirmation of your retina
• Enforce new address generation based on DNA samples
• Only confirm a transaction if the receiver completes a 15-pages long form about the purpose of the transaction

/s

We don't really need anything. I'm quite sure most of the largest hackers and scammers in the crypto sphere have been caught due to not knowing WTF they were doing. Bitcoin ledger's transparency makes it easy for hackers to reveal themselves lol. Our lovely governments have taken the worst measures already. KYC, AML, seizing the wrong money, imposing strict surveillance and control everywhere.. it's happening, and they always say it's the best thing ever against terrorism and other criminal purposes. But guess what? It never works as a tool against crime but as a tool against your privacy.

Stop taking this thing for real, the money you own inside that fiat wallet is so much dirtier than my Bitcoins.

[Faisal2202]

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies undoubtedly offer new opportunities for financial transactions. However, they can also be used for purposes of financial crime, such as fraud and money laundering. The absence of central control and the pseudonymous nature of transactions make cryptocurrencies appealing for illicit activities.

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

Your concern are real and Digital currency like BTC definitely has been used for money laundering but it does not mean governments has to restrict it. Because money laundering has been done before with fiat currency too. Why they do not ban fiat?

The thing is, transactions are so transparent on block chain and once a wallet is attached or tagged as hacker's or scammer's or frauder's wallet. Anyone could track those wallets activity and authorities could track them back by finding loopholes in the system or by their up address. So that's why it has become hard for the money launderers to launder money using crypto and they are just diverging the interest towards crypto. Because I have also done a little research of all the black money collected in previous years.

That money and hacks are mostly related to north Korea. And we all know that how outside world is disconnected to them and they are to outside world. But we also do know the danger of atomic power they want to acquire and they have the facility to make 40+ bombs but still they are not able to make one. Why? One of the reason is lack of money to buy required facilities. And they are not able to gain money by trading or doing any other activity because they are cut off from the outside world so all they are doing is made some hacking groups who hack different def and other crypto-related projects and that black money goes straight into some account which are being tracked now.

And it has become difficult for them to move the money which is being tracked that's why that money is just lies there in different wallets from many years. That's why I said it become hard for money lay refers to launder money using BTC or any other crypto currency.

[nelson4lov]

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

There is no way to mitigate these risks except the user or criminal in questions opt for a centralized service where they have to give out their personal details to in order to pass KYC checks. That's the thing with decentralized computing systems. No one system have control over other computing systems. As with public blockchains, all transactions are publicly available for anyone to read however, there's no way to link wallets to users unless the user in question explicitly expose themselves.

It's one of the downsides of blockchain and crypto. The good thing right now is there is no service right now that provides on and off fiat ramps without some KYC or AML procedure.

[Hatchy]

The only thing that I see as needing to be done is to fight and try to stop those who are using Bitcoin for illegal activities. If those people can be stopped, then there will be a lesser problem. Bitcoin is not the problem; the people using it for illegal activities are the major problem.

When you say fight, how do you mean? Since the advance of the crypto technology, there have always been reports of many illegal activities operated by individuals who exploit the pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrencies.

Although, many measure have been implemented to try reduce these activities such as the kyc, still I don't think that they can be stopped totally. It can only be regulated through awareness, and educating people about the possibility of such activities.

[uneng]

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

Usually, cryptocurrencies are traceable through public blockchains, meaning transactions aren't completely anonymous and the individuals involved on them can be reached by authorities through minutious investigation. Therefore, there isn't any advantage for criminals when using Bitcoin or similars on their schemes. Thieves are much safer and have more success chances by using paper money, since it doesn't leave any traces backwards.

To mitigate risks of crypto being used by criminals, intelligence agencies from different countries must be skilled on informatics and cybernetic environment. This way criminals will think twice before using crypto. On the other hand, if the intelligence is amateur and inefficient they may feel encouraged to deal with crypto, without fearing any punishments.

[Smack That Ace]

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies undoubtedly offer new opportunities for financial transactions. However, they can also be used for purposes of financial crime, such as fraud and money laundering. The absence of central control and the pseudonymous nature of transactions make cryptocurrencies appealing for illicit activities.

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

Fiat existed hundreds of years before bitcoin, and for those hundreds of years, criminals have also used fiat money for their crimes. Why haven't I heard of any solutions to reduce the use of fiat by criminals? Have you ever thought about how without bitcoin, criminals would completely disappear? If so, I also hope bitcoin will go away, and criminals will be gone.

Are you a government person trying to spread FUds about bitcoin? Why don't you think of measures to prevent criminals from using fiat instead of bitcoin? The fiat market is still taking over the majority of our daily transactions as well as criminals.

[Solosanz]

If you talk about cryptocurrency, it's mean you're talking about centralized shitcoins, it's stupid if someone use those centralized coins for crime because they're not anonymous or pseudonymous.

In order to mitigate the risk of crime or fraudulent activity is start from teaching the young generations for not become a bad person. It's all about the personality and character, if all people are good people, no one would do illegal activity.

[sokani]

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies undoubtedly offer new opportunities for financial transactions. However, they can also be used for purposes of financial crime, such as fraud and money laundering. The absence of central control and the pseudonymous nature of transactions make cryptocurrencies appealing for illicit activities.

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

If the government have not been able to successfully bring to an end the crimes associated with fiats like money laundering, drug smuggling, sex trafficking, illegal arm purchase, kidnapping etc. Why do you expect cryptocurrency like Bitcoin that is borderless with no censorship be able to succeed where a central authority has failed? Sadly, there's nothing that can be done to stop bad actors from using it. Transactions using cryptocurrencies are anonymous and are difficult to trace and that's why they are mostly used to perpetrate evil.

[Pandu Geddon]

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

what is important to increase is the moral awareness of everyone who uses Bitcoin and Crypto. although there will still be clashes between those with good morals and those with bad morals. because after all we can't force those who have bad intentions with the use of Crypto. control will not be possible. those who do bad things like scammers will continue to do it until they realize their own mistakes.
actually Bitcoin and Crypto is a good update. it's just that those who are irresponsible use Bitcoin and crypto as a tool to commit crimes. the fault is not Bitcoin or Crypto. but they are wrong in using it.

[Stable090]

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

No measure can be taken, is that what you want to hear? If people think bitcoin is used to illegal thing then we just have to agree, if bitcoin is really going to serve its purpose, then it will definitely be used for illegal things, bitcoin is a currency and every currency is used for illegal things so bitcoin Will also be used for illegal things, the same way fiat currency is used for illegal things and I don’t know if anybody can stop that, but you know that their are lots of people using bitcoin for legitimate purpose.

Why are you not complaining that fiat currency is used for illegal things, why are you not looking for measures to be taken to stop fiat currency from being used for illegal things, or is fiat currency not not being used for illegal activities?
 

[Ndabagi01]

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies undoubtedly offer new opportunities for financial transactions. However, they can also be used for purposes of financial crime, such as fraud and money laundering. The absence of central control and the pseudonymous nature of transactions make cryptocurrencies appealing for illicit activities.

What do you think can be done to mitigate the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for criminal purposes? What measures should be taken?

Thinking about a strategy to prevent bitcoin from being used for illicit purposes is akin to looking for a needle in a sea of water. I'm not saying it's not possible; it's quite doable; I just don't see how it can be done without invading people's privacy, which is the fundamental idea of owning or saving in bitcoin.

Fiat currency, like bitcoin, has long been used for unlawful operations and is still uncontrollable by the government despite having entire control of the money in their possession and knowing every data of the accounts these funds are used for transactions.

Using it for illegal activity will continue, but claiming that it is because it lacks a central authority that it is being used for illicit activity is a false statement that should not be disseminated to the public as such so that they do not have or feel a different opinion about what bitcoin truly is.