Criminals go where the money is, so it’s no surprise that with the rise of bitcoin and other virtual assets, crypto scams are on the rise too. And because crypto is so new to so many users, it may be even more difficult for people to identify and avoid potential fraud. This dynamic resulted in reported…
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On June 30, 2022 the EU Council Presidency and the European Parliament reached a provisional[1] agreement on the scope and direction of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. For the first time, European lawmakers aim to harmonize rules for crypto across the European Union and address the borderless risks introduced by crypto-assets while fostering innovation. Once…
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On August 8, 2022, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) updated its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List adding TORNADO CASH (a.k.a. TORNADO CASH CLASSIC; a.k.a. TORNADO CASH NOVA) along with 44 addresses from the Ethereum blockchain. This was an example of OFAC implementing sanctions on the person/entity level. OFAC, which sits within…
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On April 28, 2022, the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (‘J5’) issued a risk and red flags bulletin that highlighted significant and moderate fraud risk considerations with regards to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). What is the J5? Since being formed in 2018, the J5 have been committed to combating transnational tax crime through increased enforcement…
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FATF Background Founded in 1989, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an independent inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The FATF Recommendations are recognized as the global anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist…
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In January 2022, the Fed issued their CBDC report titled: “Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation”. This report provides a transparent public dialogue about issuance of a USD retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and some potential benefits and risks. Central banks all over the world continue researching CBDCs,…
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