Financial institutions and governments still see the crypto market as a gray area as criminal activity remains the key reason for a concern, according to a new survey by the Royal United Services Institute and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.
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The survey says at least 80% of respondents selected money-laundering issues and the dark net as the main problem of the crypto industry. The second concern is procurement of illicit goods (83%) by sanctioned actors (82%), by terrorist organizations (79%), to fund human trafficking (76%), and in fraudulent initial coin offering (75%).
It should be noted that the cryptocurrency industry itself was less worried about each of the highly-mentioned risks, considering only sanctions evasion as the main problem.
Notwithstanding, over 560 respondents still have no one voice whether they should consider cryptocurrency a risk or an opportunity. The cryptocurrency market mainly believes that crypto transactions "offer more transparency than traditional financial transactions, and that transactions are compatible with sanctions screening and compliance, while financial institutions and government disagreed."
RUSI Research Analyst with the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Kayla Izenman says the crypto market "appears to have a great amount of confidence in their own abilities to counter and detect risk, whereas government does not have nearly as much faith."
"Bridging this gap is essential, as all sectors agree that the use of cryptocurrency is on the rise, but we know there’s no clear consensus on domestic regulatory action. This risks opening the door to illicit activities," she added.
The crypto-related respondents also believe that cryptocurrency itself should be considered legal tender.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz previously assured that Germany will speed up development of regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the European Union to set new standards "worldwide."
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) said earlier in September that stablecoins that entail a liability on an identifiable entity should be subject "to existing regulatory standards."
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