U.S. state regulators should require virtual currency firms currently subject to federal anti-money laundering rules to verify the identities of users of their services who do not hold accounts, a regulatory organization said Tuesday.
New York's financial regulator could soon hone expected rules on the use of virtual currencies after industry representatives complained to the agency that parts of its initial plan were vague.
Love or hate New Yorks plans to shield Bitcoin and its competitors from financial crooks, one thing is certain: the proposal is only the first of dozens that will shape the industry.
More than a year into an effort by the digital currency industry to convince critics that its promise doesn't extend to criminals more than consumers, Bitcoin proponents are questioning whether they have the right messenger to deliver their message.
Governments will need to bolster their countermeasures to battle fast-growing threats of fraud in the electronic money market, experts warned Friday.
For all of the legitimate concerns and overheated rhetoric about the rise of crypto-currencies, the biggest problem for Bitcoin may be one seldom discussed by critics: its abuse by tax dodgers.
A well-known advocate of digital currencies and the head of a Bitcoin exchange house facilitated over $1 million in transactions tied to an online black market, federal prosecutors said Monday.
U.S. officials have sent formal warning letters to a number of virtual currency firms it suspects have failed to register as money services businesses, the head of the nation's financial intelligence unit said Tuesday.
The regulatory concerns of Bitcoin and other digital currency platforms may extend beyond the anti-money laundering requirements outlined by the U.S. Treasury Department earlier this year, lawmakers and congressional witnesses said Tuesday.
The indictment Wednesday of an online black market for narcotics and weapons vendors could further hamper proponents of a growing digital currency in the eyes of bank compliance officers.
Nearly all digital coins studied by researchers at the University of California in San Diego were used to purchase goods from a black market Web site selling illicit goods, a recent study found.
As digital currencies like Bitcoin continue to gain popularity, banks may have to train their compliance officers on the technical means to trace such money movements, according to Daniel Wood, an assistant general counsel with the Texas Department of Banking.
The second installation of a two-part story on how the Bitcoin market is changing under the scrutiny of federal and state officials.
Even as the use of Bitcoin grows, the differences in opinion about the risks the digital currency poses only seems to get larger.
Two men in a Miami federal court pleaded not guilty to terrorist financing charges, Singapore strengthened its counterterrorist financing regime, and more, in the midweek roundup.
When FinCEN issued its innocuously entitled guidance, "Application of FinCEN's Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging, or Using Virtual Currencies" in March, an already speculative currency may have received its death blow.
The U.S. Justice Department is expected to decide within the fiscal year whether prosecutors can bring charges against entities using a controversial virtual currency, an FBI official said Thursday.
While the popularity of virtual worlds has grown in recent years, lawmakers and regulators have been slow to address related vulnerabilities to financial crime, according to Dr. Clare Chambers-Jones, an associate professor in banking and finance law at the University of West England Bristol.