Photo - Reuters/Pichi Chuang
Taiwan Central Bank President Yang Jinlong mentioned recently that the Central Bank has taken notice to Bitcoin's recent price collapse, issuing a warning to investors to pay attention to the inherent risk of investing in cryptocurrency. The Department of Justice is continuing to recommend money laundering regulations also be applied to Bitcoin/cryptocurrency transactions.
These comments are timely, being that other Asian governments have already proceeded to issue regulations in the crytocurrency world.
South Korea recently prohibited domestic banks from issuing virtual/anonymous accounts for cryptocurrency exchange users, mandating a real-name verification process just two months ago.
Malaysia also stepped up to the plate last month, with official actions backing up KYC (know-your-customer) efforts when dealing with all cryptocurrency trading activities.
Just last month, one Thomas Mario Costanzo (a.k.a. Morpheus Titania), of Mesa, Arizona, was found guilty of 5 counts of money laundering by a federal jury in Phoenix. Costanzo was found to be supplying Bitcoin to individuals buying drugs on the internet, and was also using Bitcoin himself for the purchase of drugs. He would also deal in large cash transactions, up to $50,000, per an online ad he placed regarding his services of selling Bitcoin anonymously.
Financial regulations dealing with anti-money laundering have been around for decades. As these new types of currency come in to play in the larger financial market, regulators world-wide are having to react and apply similar methodologies in order to safely protect the sanctity of the global banking system.