Recommendations to prevent virtual currencies from being used for fraudulent purposes and money laundering
The group produced an overview of the risks and threats associated with virtual currencies, and drew up a set of recommendations with an eye to lessening their impact. Since the virtual currency sector is growing by leaps and bounds, it is worth pointing out that the recommendations are based on an analysis of the situation as of June 2014
Bitcoin and Beyond – The possibilities and pitfuls of virtual currencies
With public interest in virtual currencies piqued, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis presented âBitcoin and Beyond: The Possibilities and the Pitfalls of Virtual Currenciesâ as part of its Dialogue with the Fed series earlier this year. Dialogue with the Fed was started in the fall of 2011 to address key economic and financial issues of the day and to provide the public with the opportunity to ask questions of Fed experts.
Virtual Currencies: Emerging Regulatory,Law Enforcement,and Consumer Protection Challenges
This report discusses federal financial regulatory and law enforcement agency responsibilities related to the use of virtual currencies and associated challenges and actions and collaborative efforts the agencies have undertaken regarding virtual currencies. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed federal laws and regulations, academic and industry research, and agency documents; and interviewed federal agency officials, researchers, and industry groups.
Bitcoin and Money Laundering: Mining for an Effective Solution
This Note analyzes the effects of Bitcoin and analogous virtual currencies on antiâmoney laundering (AML) enforcement. Part I gives a brief primer on money laundering and virtual currencies. Part II offers a Bitcoin primer, which differentiates Bitcoin technology from traditional currencies and competing virtual currencies. Part III analyzes whether Bitcoin is legal to use or trade in the United States, using domestic and international adoption of Bitcoin for guidance. Part IV discusses whether current U.S. AML regulatory schemes encompass the entirety of Bitcoin use, finding that it does not. Finally, Part V offers suggestions for a regulatory scheme encompassing Bitcoin and analogous virtual currency technologies. Ultimately, this Note recommends regulating Bitcoin currency exchanges under existing AML regulation schemes instead of broadening statutory definitions to control all aspects of Bitcoin or analogous virtual currencies.
The dangers linked to the emergence of virtual currencies: the example of bitcoins
This focus explains how bitcoin functions, and aims to highlight some of the dangers for users of virtual currencies and the challenges for creating a regulatory framework.
