Latham and Watkins Wbe Latham & Watkins, the world’s largest law firm with approximately 2,000 attorneys in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia has recently released a research on today’s enforcement trends in cryptocurrency.
Since the beginning of 2015, an increasing number of government and law enforcement agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have attempted to regulate the circulation of bitcoin and restrict the operations of cryptocurrency-related businesses and startups.
Lawmakers and enforcement agencies have become increasingly active in regulating cryptocurrencies as established financial institutions, banks and tech conglomerates began to invest and work with blockchain-focused startups to create decentralized financial systems such as a cross-institutional banking and asset settlement platform and as an increasing number of criminals began to use bitcoin to extort money from businesses.
Just last month, the European Union has hinted the launch of an official investigation on bitcoin and announced their plans to strengthen controls on virtual currencies and other digital methods of funding. Their decision followed a superficial research on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s alleged use of bitcoin to fund their devotees and militants internationally.
The European Union based their judgements on false claims released by major media outlets including Germany’s state broadcaster Deutsche Welle which claimed that they have found evidences to link ISIS to bitcoin.
“Thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin has been sent to accounts purportedly affiliated with “Islamic State,” with the one of the accounts registering its first transaction in 2012,” reported DW .
However, the statement was later proved to be false and the EU hasn’t talked about regulatory policies surrounding bitcoin and virtual currencies ever since.
Due to banks’ growing interest toward […]
