Once a bogeyman for anti-money laundering compliance departments, the technology underlying virtual currency platforms may one day be among the most important tools to identifying financial crime, industry experts say.
It has had a difficult childhood and a rocky adolescence, but Bitcoin is a pretty smart payment protocol that still has a promising future.
Businesses that transmit or control virtual funds on behalf of others have 45 days to apply for a state-issued license that imposes anti-money laundering controls, New York said Wednesday.
This time last December, one might reasonably have expected that 2014 would be a year of modest changes for the anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance sector. Then came JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas and a convoy of Russian tanks to quash that notion.
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.
If you ask British banks how they view Bitcoin start-ups, you might conclude that digital currency firms in the U.K. have it no different than elsewhere. That is to say: bad.
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.
As federal investigators continue to pursue illicit online vendors in the wake of its high-profile prosecution of Silk Road, they will face two hurdles: evolving data-encryption and an atomized black market.
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.
Federal lawmakers are unlikely to move quickly to regulate digital currencies despite congressional skepticism about the technology, a senate staffer told attendees of a Bitcoin conference in New York.
With New York rules for digital currency exchanges in the works, other states are stepping up to draft rules of their own, speakers at a Manhattan Bitcoin conference said Monday.
A pair of congressional reports on the financial crime risks associated with Bitcoin and other digital currency platforms are slated for publication in April, say sources.
New York should require some digital currency companies to collect and periodically verify customer information to deter financial criminals, Manhattan's district attorney told state regulators Wednesday.
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.
Lawmakers are asking the IRS to quickly finalize guidance on potential tax liabilities of digital money, including the crypto-currency platform Bitcoin.
New York States financial regulator will soon hold a public hearing to determine whether it should license digital currency companies that comply with regulations aimed at money launderers and fraudsters.
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.