Crypto money laundering up by one third in 2021 but still below record
Chainalysis report detailed how cyber criminals laundered their crypto funds in 2021 compared to the previous year, with DeFi protocols seeing the biggest increase in use. 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....
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Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested four people suspected of money laundering a total of $155 million through cryptocurrency wallets and bank accounts. The city’s customs agency said this was its first case in which virtual money had been used to launder dirty cash. Money Laundering Syndicate Recycles $155 Million in Crypto and Fiat Transactions The criminal group is believed to have processed illegal funds for a total of 1.2 billion Hong Kong dollars ($155 million), Hong Kong Customs announced Thursday. In an operation code-named “Coin Breaker,” officers detained the....
The Department of the Treasury suggested that the increasing use of art as an investment or financial asset could make the high-value art trades vulnerable to money laundering. The U.S. Department of the Treasury released a study on the high-value art market, highlighting the potential in the nonfungible tokens (NFT) space to conduct illicit money laundering or terror financing operations.The treasury’s “Study of the facilitation of money laundering and terror finance through the trade in works of art” suggested that the increasing use of art as an investment or financial asset could make....
Britain’s Metropolitan Police have seized a staggering £180 million in cryptocurrency as part of a money laundering investigation. The announcement comes just weeks after Scotland Yard confiscated £114 million in crypto, breaking the previous record. UK Police Discover £180 Million in Crypto Linked to Criminal Transfers Law enforcement officials in the U.K. have announced the seizure of a record amount of cryptocurrency during an ongoing investigation into international money laundering. Detectives said they confiscated almost £180 million (close to $250....
Digital currencies were deemed a "low" risk for money laundering and terrorism financing in a report published last month by the UK government. In a National Risk Assessment released 15th October by HM Treasury, the government said that digital currencies present the lowest risk rating among money laundering vehicles, a list that also includes cash, banks and accountancy services. "The money laundering risk associated with digital currencies is low, though if the use of digital currencies was to become more prevalent in the UK this risk could rise," the report states. It goes on to....
Ross Ulbricht, alleged Silk Road HBIC, is claiming that new federal bitcoin lawsclassifying bitcoin as assets and not money invalidate the money laundering charges he faces. In short, heargues that you can't launder money if you're not using it. Earlier this year, Robert Faiella, 52, and Charlie Shrem, 24, were arrested on federal money laundering charges for their bitcoin activity on Silk Road. It would stand to reason that if Ulbricht did not break anti-money laundering laws, they didn't either. The two allegedly sold more than $1 million in bitcoin to Silk Road users. Selling assets....