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Larry Fink, CEO of the world's greatest asset The BlackRock management company told a panel of the Institute of International Finance:

"Bitcoin shows you how much money laundering demand exists in the world, it is a money laundering index. " [LesentimentdeFinksurlesmonnaiesvirtuellesreflèteceluid'unfonctionnairedeladivisiondesenquêtescriminellesdel'IRSquiadéclaréauxjournalistesen2013-aprèsavoirconcluuneenquêtemulti-juridictionnelleetferméunéchangedemonnaievirtuellede6milliardsdedollarspourblanchimentd'silver:

"If Al Capone was alive aujourd & # 39; hui, c & # 39; as well as & # 39; he would hide his money. "

Drugs and Money Laundering

Recently, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a report that outlines the efforts of the states To control the global illicit drug trade. The report claims that virtual currencies – Bitcoin, Zcash, Monero and Ethereum – are increasingly being used in the digital metro to facilitate trade-based money laundering schemes for transnational criminal organizations (TCOs)

years, the drug landscape in the United States has changed dramatically, with the threat of opioids reaching epidemic levels in much of the country. Drug poisoning is the leading cause of death in the United States, with about 170 people dying each day. The opioid epidemic was declared a national emergency by President Trump last August, when Bitcoin was trading at $ 4,000.

Mexican TCO and El Chapo

According to the DEA report, Mexican TCOs are the biggest criminals. drug threat in the United States. Earlier this year, when Bitcoin was trading at $ 1,000, Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera (El Chapo), the backbone of the Sinaloa cartel, was extradited by Mexico to the United States. The extradition followed Mexico's resumption of fugitive drug baron after his brazen escape from a maximum-security Mexican prison via a kilometer-long tunnel that connected his prison cell.

In the United States, El Chapo faces long list of criminal charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering, for running one of the organizations transnational drug trafficking networks the most powerful and sophisticated in the world.

The DEA report combines multiple factors such as:

Controlling the lucrative southwestern drug smuggling corridors, Mexican TCOs export and transport significant quantities of drugs. illicit drugs in the United States. El Chapo, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, boasted of being able to "supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anyone else in the world." He took the responsibility to monitor up to half of the illegal drugs to accomplish this, El Chapo said that he had "a fleet of submarines, planes, trucks and boats . " Last year, Mexican law enforcement forces confiscated 599 Sinaloa Cartel aircraft – a larger fleet than Aero Some of these aircraft were equipped with the latest intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies (SRI) to go unnoticed by the US Border Patrol After selling illicit drugs to the United States – which yielded $ 64 billion each. Mexican TCOs needed a way to repatriate drug money to Mexico and it became increasingly difficult for Mexican TCOs to deposit their cash proceeds directly into banks and other institutions. financial resources. once the world's largest banks – HSBC, Wachovia and Citigroup – have been hit with billions of dollars in penalties for the money laundering of Mexican cartels. Mexican TCOs were forced to resort to more complex trade-based multi-jurisdictional money laundering systems that included cryptocurrencies.

Money laundering using cryptocurrency

The DEA report that China has become an important hub for money laundering programs. TCOs buy large quantities of "made in China" products using Bitcoin. These "made in China" products are then shipped to businessmen in Mexico and South America who refund CTO in local currency. Bitcoin payments are very popular in China as they can be used to anonymously transfer value abroad, bypassing China's controls

US Proposes Cryptocurrencies Amendment to AML Laws

On November 28, 2017, bitcoin negotiated at $ 9,880, the US Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Bill S-1241 entitled "Money Laundering, Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2017" and counterfeiting ". This bill amends US laws against money laundering. ) by making virtual currencies more targeted by regulation. Prepaid access devices, digital wallets and other digital currency exchangers are subject to reporting requirements if they contain the equivalent in virtual currency of $ 10,000 or more.

According to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley help modernize American AML laws. Grassley explained:

"[S. 1241 will give] law enforcement more tools to prosecute and fill in legal loopholes.It will clarify the rules on evidence for prosecutors and prosecutors. judges, which will help increase convictions.It will be easier to deal with drug lords, drug cartels and terrorist organizations by more easily seizing virtual currencies. "

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EU amends AML transparency laws for cryptotrature

European governments plead for global Bitcoin regulation at G20 level, coordinated by the Organization Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In the midst of growing fears that multinationals, drug traffickers and terrorists are using virtual currencies, the German Finance Ministry explained: