United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo believes Bitcoin (BTC) should be regulated the same way as other electronic financial transactions. Security risks of reduced governmental monitoring In an interview with Squawk Box on Aug. 20, Pompeo pointed out the risk of anonymous transactions associated with crypto, saying: “The risk with anonymous transactions is one that we all know well. We know this from 9/11 and terror activity that took place in the 15 years preceding that where we didn’t have good tracking, we didn’t have the capacity to understand money flows and who was moving money.” CNBC host Joe …

In a world where the global crypto community continues to face a growing number of regulatory hurdles with each passing day, the term “virgin Bitcoin” is starting to become more common among digital currency enthusiasts. However, it is of utmost importance to clarify what this term actually means and the significance it carries. According to Dave Jevans, the CEO of CipherTrace, virgin Bitcoins are essentially BTC tokens that do not have a transaction (TX) record associated with them. As a result of this, coins lack a defined attribution history, making them extremely useful for money launderers as well as other …

The Republic of Lithuania’s Ministry of Finance plans to release legal amendments for operating crypto-related businesses in the country, Riga-based newspaper The Baltic Times reports on April 8. According to the report, the Lithuanian finance ministry wants to bring more legal certainty to the operation of companies relating to cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto wallet operators, as well as initial coin offerings (ICOs). By enforcing legal requirements in the industry, the authority reportedly seeks to ensure an efficient policy against money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as to guarantee a due level of consumer protection, the articles writes. The new amendments …

Cryptocurrencies are not well-suited for the needs of terrorist groups, United States nonprofit think tank RAND Corporation states in a report published on March 27. The report, dubbed “Terrorist Use of Cryptocurrencies: Technical and Organizational Barriers and Future Threats,” is focused on two main angles — how terrorists use cryptocurrencies in their current state and how could they possibly use them in the future as the industry evolves. The authors believe that cryptocurrencies currently pose no significant threat as a means of terrorism financing. However, if cryptocurrencies started providing anonymity and improved security, combined with the lack of relevant state …

International banking authority the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has issued a warning statement on crypto assets on March 13. The BCBS is a committee of banking supervisory authorities hosted and supported by the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS) — an organization made up of 60 of the world’s central banks In today’s statement, the committee warned that the robust growth of the crypto industry could potentially “raise financial stability concerns and increase risks faced by banks.” The committee noted the risks were present despite the crypto market’s currently small scale in relation to the scope of the …

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has appointed blockchain security firm CipherTrace to monitor activity by crypto businesses in Malta, local news agency The Times of Malta reports on March 11. CipherTrace is now set to be responsible for overseeing regulatory processes and audit risk management of virtual asset businesses licensed in Malta, CipherTrace CEO Joseph Cuschier explained. The United States-based blockchain security company will assist the MFSA in combating money laundering and financing terrorism risks associated with entities involved in crypto businesses. As previously reported, the MFSA envisions coordinating interactions with crypto-related businesses such as initial coin offering (ICO) …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has critical gaps in its supervision for anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), and is recommending “urgent action.” The news was reported by local news outlet the Times of Malta on Feb. 28. A Financial System Stability Assessment Report was purportedly issued by the IMF on Thursday, Feb. 28, and represents an assessment of Malta’s financial system, the quality of the regulatory and supervisory framework, as well as the country’s ability to cope with financial crises. Per the report, the IMF stated …

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on September 26 that would establish a crypto task force to combat terrorist use of cryptocurrencies, public records indicate. House Resolution (H.R.) 5036, which represents an amended version of the bill proposed by Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) to the Committee on Financial Services in January, establishes an “Independent Financial Technology Task Force” to fight the illicit use of cryptocurrency. According to public records published on the official online database of the U.S. Congress, the new version of the bill has been passed by the whole House by voice vote. Similar to the …

The crypto and blockchain industry is “not innately illicit and should not be feared,” the director of analysis for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Center stated in an official press release from the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee September 7. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, during a Sept. 7 U.S. Congressional hearing of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance, FDD CSIF director of analysis Yaya Fanusie claimed that crypto is a “poor form of money for jihadists” and “cold hard cash is still king.” According to Fanusie’s conclusions in the report, terrorist groups such as …

The U.S. Congress Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance has discussed various methods of terrorism financing with cryptocurrency, according to an official press release on the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee September 7. In order to monitor threats and methods of terrorist financing, the hearing considered major means of transferring funds by terrorists, including traditional financial institutions and semi-formal methods, such as the hawala exchange system, as well as cryptocurrencies. However, while al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other terrorist groups have all attempted to raise funds through crypto, they have not had great success, as Congress concluded in …

Risk management giant LexisNexis has partnered with crypto exchange Blockbid to increase the exchanges security measures Blockbid reports on its Medium account June 4. Blockbid is reportedly one of the first trading platforms to voluntarily observe global anti-money laundering (AML) measures by partnering with LexisNexis and ThreatMetrix security technology firms. Boosting fraud prevention and know your customer (KYC) measures in respect to banks, the solution “Trade with Confidence” intends to prevent crypto being used in cases of money laundering, terrorism financing, human trafficking, and other illegal activity. According to the blog post, the newly adopted technology by Melbourne-based exchange Blockbid …

A proposed UK bill could end anonymity in Bitcoin transactions by logging of all content accessed via UK ISPs. This will leave only services such as DarkWallet as truly anonymous options, placing them firmly in the sights of UK lawmakers seeking “the legal power to break into the encrypted communications of suspected terrorists.” Speaking in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks at the Charlie Hebdo offices and a kosher supermarket, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called for further powers to assist the police and intelligence services to track and monitor online and mobile communications in the UK. This …