The European Union (EU) continues to argue that bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies are a risk due to the supposed ease they provide for money laundering, but now it has added an actor that must be watched.
The body against money laundering and the financing of terrorism of the Council of Europe, MONEYVAL, not only proposes more rigorous regulations towards bitcoin, but also also on the specialized professions that play the role of “guardians”.
The regulator asks to take a close look at professionals from different areas such as lawyers, accountants and other service providers who often help money launderers, including those operating in the cryptocurrency sector, according to a report. release published this May 4th.
They also re-indicated that “virtual assets and the growing use of cryptocurrencies are becoming a major challenge to combat money laundering.”
For the regulator, this happens in the cryptoactive sector because they are financial products that “are available through the Internet from anywhere in the world”, while banks and institutions have control over money flows.
The agency also notes that its member states continue to demonstrate a moderate level of effectiveness in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and that they are below the satisfactory threshold in the supervision of the standards established by the FATF.
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European regulators and the IMF in tune
MONEYVAL’s position on cryptocurrencies is the same as that expressed by Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), earlier this year.
According to Lagarde, bitcoin is a threat whose regulation must be addressed on a global scale, otherwise it could serve as an escape valve, as reported by CriptoNoticias.
The head of the financial organization assures that there are criminal investigations, and they will surely continue, that clearly demonstrate the use of bitcoin for illicit purposes.
It possibly refers to reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization that Lagarde also directed between 2011 and 2019, in which they ensure that the use of cryptocurrencies is significantly and positively associated with a greater perception of corruption and more intensive capital controls.
Inflation pushes Europeans to invest in bitcoin
Despite Europe’s warnings about bitcoin, the inflation currently hitting the old continent means that people are turning to investment methods, such as bitcoin, to deal with its impact.
At the end of last April, Europe has reached an all-time high for the sixth consecutive month of YoY headline inflation reaching 7.5%.
This situation occurs, in part, fueled by the war between Russia and Ukraine and the impact of energy supply. Much of the continent depends on Russian gas and the sanctions against that country force European countries to go to other markets that are more expensive.
Bitcoin is not the favorite of money launderers
Although different sectors of the regulation have attacked bitcoin for its use in money laundering, the reality is somewhat different.
The blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis, in a report presented earlier this year and reported by CriptoNoticias, explained that both fiat money like altcoins (alternative cryptocurrencies) are much more widely used than bitcoin for laundering funds.
This was exposed by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) in a 2020 report, where they indicated that crypto assets play a very small role in money laundering and reaffirms thatcash is still the most used method for such purposes.
Nor can it be denied that criminal acts have been committed using bitcoin or some cryptocurrency, as happened recently in Spain.