Illicit proceeds in Europe laundered through cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies unlike traditional currencies are not printed by governments and traditional banks, nor controlled or regulated by them. As a result, the anonymous and unregulated nature of virtual currencies is attracting criminals, making it hard for police to track them as it is difficult to identify who is moving payments, the agency’s director Rob Wainwright told BBC.

Another problem Europol has identified involves the method that criminals use to launder money. Proceeds from criminal activity are being converted into Bitcoins, split into smaller amounts and given to people who are seemingly not associated with the criminals but who are acting as “money mules”. These money mules then convert the Bitcoins back into hard cash before returning it to the criminals.

The director said that police were also seeing a trend where money “in the billions” generated from street sales of drugs across Europe is being converted into Bitcoins. Nevertheless, in the end he called on those running the Bitcoin industries to work with enforcement agencies to tackle these problems.