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Europol sees tools to tackle crime in cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies – Blockchain Bitcoin News
Abuse is expanding with use in the case of cryptocurrency, Europol has acknowledged, while noting that blockchain technologies offer authorities a new opportunity to fight crime. Europe’s law enforcement agency also says it can help investigate money laundering networks.
Understanding cryptocurrencies is essential to tackling organized crime, says Europol
The growing use of cryptocurrency across borders and industries comes with increasing abuse, new forms of crime and money laundering, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) concluded after a recent gathering of crypto experts, financial investigators, regulators, and representatives for business.
The 6th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies was recently held at the agency’s headquarters in the Netherlands. The two-day event was supported by the Basel Institute on Governance through the Joint Working Group on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies and intended to increase cooperation between participating parties in investigating and prosecuting crypto-related crimes.
Speakers also noted that when using the right tools, blockchain technologies “can offer an unprecedented opportunity to investigate organized crime and money laundering networks and recover stolen funds,” Europol said in a press release. It emphasized that increased understanding and capacity in the cryptosphere is essential to tackle crime and money laundering.
Law enforcement, regulatory bodies and the private sector are working hard to stay ahead of those trying to misuse crypto assets, Europol noted. The agency highlighted the tightening of EU legislation, with upcoming rules designed to ensure that digital currencies such as bitcoin receive the same treatment as other assets in the context of money laundering prevention. This also facilitates the seizure and management of crypto funds, the police authority added.
Europol further pointed out that investigators are leveraging blockchain-based technology to follow money flows, which has enabled them to identify not only fraudsters and hackers, but also to expose more “traditional” crime groups and money laundering networks. “Private companies are rapidly innovating to provide the tools and analytical capacity to trace funds laundered across multiple blockchains using various obfuscation techniques,” the agency said.
The latest edition of Europol’s crypto conference was attended by over 1,700 participants from 119 nations with speakers representing EU institutions such as the European Parliament, crypto service providers such as Binance, the world’s leading digital asset exchange, blockchain forensics and recovery companies including Chainalysis, along with law enforcement officials from a range of European and other countries such as the USA and South Korea.
The event follows important developments towards regulation of Europe’s crypto space. This summer, key EU institutions and member states reached an agreement on the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory package after reaching an agreement to adopt a set of anti-money laundering rules for cryptocurrency transactions.
Do you think EU authorities will expand the use of blockchain technologies for law enforcement purposes? Share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below.
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