FATF Against Bitcoin

The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière(GAFI), is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing.

Elina Sidorenko: FATF has new cryptocurrency risks list

20 June 2018
Elina Sidorenko, head of the Russian parliamentary working group of cryptocurrency risk assessment, has published a peculiar post in her Telegram channel. The international financial regulator seems to become more interested in the cryptocurrency market regulation and prepares a survey of the member states on the issue, as well as a separate report on money laundering. She noted that this information has become exclusively available to her quite recently.

The Russian official tells that the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) saw risks in:

Suspicious deals growth (+230% in Spain and +3500% in Malaysia being the primary examples)
Organized crime syndicates using cryptocurrency
Crime connected with Bitcoin in particular
Drug trade & cryptocurrency
Hidden mining cases quantity growth
Cryptocurrency in cyber-attacks, ICO frauds, Bitcoin ATM frauds etc.

Bitnewstoday possesses the written answer of the Communications Management Advisor of FATF on this theme. The representative of the organization has responded the following. From June 27 to June 29 2018 there will be a Plenary discussion of the FATF member states, in which the issue of risks of the digital assets use in terrorism and money laundering spheres will indeed be raised. Following the confidential discussion, in June 29 (on Friday), a dedicated material about the key points of the talks will be published.

While not verified, this information corresponds with older news on this task force. For example, this organization has published a dedicated material on digital currencies in 2015, where it has also mentioned the infamous Liberty Reserve - a big international money laundering hub. One may read the details on its history to better comprehend the motives of the regulators.