With the advent of the internet and the myriad of issues that have arisen since its adoption in the early 1990's, Crypto Crime is one area that has seen a surge. With the increase in value of crypto-currencies and the ability for anonymity in many cases, there are many opportunities for crimes to be committed in this space.
Exit-scams have always been a factor in the crypto-sphere and have been largely unstoppable due to the ability for these crimes to be untraceable or not a crime in many countries.
Money Laundering has been one area that society has pinned crypto-currencies as having a major influence. Although this may be correct in some cases, traditional money laundering is very widespread with many banking institutions being held more accountable lately for facilitating laundering.
Whilst de-centralisation is very appealing for many reasons, it does facilitate the possibility for crimes to be committed. Centralisation also has its downfalls.
Are there any solutions to halting the opportunity for crimes to be committed in the crypto space? The emergence of self-regulation solutions could be the answer. KYC is a requirement in some jurisdictions now to better identify investors and users. Exchanges must also play a part in this regulation. They have the power to freeze assets that have been reported as stolen or used fraudulently. They could blacklist addresses and ask for proof of funds or identity. This also opens a myriad of issues and there doesn't seem to be any simple answer at the moment.
Opportunities for monetary gain will always be a motivation for many scam and illegal activities and the crypto space is no different to any other. How this space is better regulated and secured is going to be very important for more mass-adoption of this sector and larger investments. If crypto-currencies are to really boom, then more needs to be done in this area. I am looking forward to see what the future brings.
Thanks for reading.
