According to a new study, criminals used Bitcoin (Bitcoin) to launder money in the amount of $2.5 billion through cryptocurrency exchanges from January 2009 to September 2018.
Cryptocurrency CipherTrace investigated 45 million transactions and 20 global cryptocurrency exchanges. 97% of Bitcoins laundered through exchanges came to countries with ineffective Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) regulations.
CipherTrace considered transactions as criminal if they were linked to sources such as “dark market sites, extortion, malware, mixer/tumbler/money laundering, ransomware, and terrorist financing services.”
The researchers point out that governments can control money laundering through Bitcoin by adopting and enforcing the AML cryptocurrency rules over the next two years.
Some governments are already taking steps to regulate the work of cryptocurrency exchanges. For example, in Japan, local exchanges are required to conduct a thorough identification process so that users can trade cryptocurrencies.
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