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 acknowledge that, at present, instances of observed money laundering involving the technology are relatively few, whereas the majority of the criminal use has been in transactions to illicit online markets."There are a limited number of case studies upon which any solid conclusions could be drawn that digital currencies are used for money laundering.There are concerns around anonymity, faster payments, and ability to provide cross border remittances and facilitate international trade.

These issues are similar to issues identified with many other financial instruments, such as cash and e-money."The evidence that does exist, the report said, relates to occasions in which law enforcement reportedly observed money laundering taking place at the exchange level."Law enforcement agencies have identified, in a limited number of cases, criminals using large franchised [money services businesses] MSBs to purchase digital currencies from exchangers," the report states."This method, law enforcement agencies believe, has been developed to avoid the retail banking sector."Further, there appears to be few indications that digital currencies are being used by money laundering specialists working on behalf of ‘traditional’ criminal groups.The report also suggests that there isn’t much in the way of proof that terrorists are using digital currencies to move money and fund operations, adding: "There is little evidence to indicate that the use of digital currencies has been adopted by criminals involved in terrorist financing, whether as a means by which to raise funds (crowd funding etc.), to pay for infrastructure (e.g.

server rental), or to transfer funds."The full National Risk Assessment can be found below: UK NRA October 2015 Final Web The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.(This August 2 story has been corrected to amend company name to LexisNexis Risk Solutions from LexisNexis)LONDON A company that provides banks with anti-money-laundering controls has teamed up with a bitcoin security firm to try to curb nefarious uses of the digital currency, such as drug trafficking and terrorism financing.LexisNexis Risk Solutions said the new service it has created with London-based startup Elliptic would bring bank-grade AML controls to bitcoin transactions, making the virtual currency more attractive to those who might want to use it for legitimate transactions LexisNexis Risk Solutions, part of multinational analytics firm RELX Group (REL.L), helps banks comply with AML regulation, using a database of 2.7 million global entities that could be involved in illicit transactions, such as those on sanctions and other watch-lists.

It has shared that database with Elliptic, which monitors bitcoin transactions and can alert its clients - ranging from bitcoin exchanges to U.S.and European intelligence agencies - when money moves from bitcoin addresses that have been identified as bad actors."This is a step toward making it (bitcoin) more mainstream and more acceptable," said Thomas Brown, of LexisNexis Risk Solutions.Bitcoin is a web-based digital currency that relies on complex algorithms to move money around quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority to process transactions.litecoin more profitableThat has made it attractive to a variety of users, including those who want to get around capital controls and those who support a currency that is free from government control for ideological reasons.crypto bitcoin faucet

But it has also attracted criminals, such as drug dealers and arms traffickers."Today, if you see bitcoins transacting, you almost assume they're from someone who wants to be off the grid, or they're proceeds from illicit transactions," said Brown.Last month Elliptic said it was working with the Internet Watch Foundation to clamp down on the use of bitcoin for online child pornography."Thesingle biggest thing keeping mainstream financial services out of the (bitcoin) ecosystem is the inability to do bank-grade anti-money laundering controls," said Elliptic's head of business development, Kevin Beardsley.litecoin cpu guide"The hope is that this will unlock a whole wave of companies being able to enter financial services with bitcoin."litecoin cambio(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)litecoin mining from iphone

The independent intergovernmental organization FATF or The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering), headquartered in Paris, has published a report as a guide for using digital currencies titled “Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Currencies.” It includes benefits of digital currencies as well as potential risks of money laundering and terror financing.The report is essentially the conclusion to the recent meeting held at Brisbane that was participated by 34 member nations and two regional organizations – the European Union and the Gulf Co-operation Council — to discuss policies, regulations and compliance for digital currencies.bitcoin silk road articleThe 48-page extended report issued by the FATF described bitcoin payment services and products as potential tools for money laundering, and announced that digital currency service providers and companies must identify and notice potential risks of using the currency.

FATF heavily emphasized the importance of its member nations to understand the technicalities and the technology behind digital currencies such as bitcoin, and encouraged its nations to introduce regulations and restrictions for digital currency exchanges that are similar to that of traditional financial establishments, thus requesting all digital exchanges to register and subject to the same regulations of other financial institutions and money transfer businesses.The FATF’s “guidelines” of bitcoin are predicted to have the same effect as BitLicense had on New York-based bitcoin startups – this time on a global scale.Despite the report’s persistent connection of bitcoin to money laundering and terrorist financing cases, the report does point out positive usages and applications of the technology behind digital currencies.The FATF respects the attention of venture capital firms and billionaire angel investors who have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in digital currency startups.

“Virtual currency has the potential to improve payment efficiency and reduce transaction costs for payments and fund transfers,” the report said.“For example, Bitcoin functions as a global currency that can avoid exchange fees, is currently processed with lower fees/charges than traditional credit and debit cards, and may potentially provide benefit to existing online payment systems, like PayPal.” FATF also explained that digital currencies are one of the only financial instruments that enables the transfer of microtransactions, which optimizes financial processes of small online businesses and individuals with low-cost goods and services.Moreover, the advantages of digital currencies for both the unbanked and banked contributed to a significant part of the report, as digital currencies offer extremely low transaction fees, which is very benefitable for those without bank accounts or those using expensive remittance services and bank transfers.However, FATF finalized the report with a concern that decentralized systems like digital currencies are vulnerable to anonymity risks.