New UN Report Reveals Increased Usage of Bitcoin, Other Cryptocurrencies in Money Laundering

The concept of bitcoin is actually quite impressive because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing people to spend their money in a manner that is decentralized but still traceable for added reliability. Bitcoin and other forms of crypto have been on the rise for quite a few years now, so much so that simply buying and holding this asset has led to countless people becoming very rich indeed.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there are a lot of criticisms that are levied against Bitcoin as well, with one of the most prominent being that it can be used to launder drug money and other forms of illegal cash. It turns out that various Mexican drug cartels have found Bitcoin to be a very useful resource when it comes to laundering their money with all things having been considered and taken into account.

While the Mexican government has a law that prevents crypto companies from facilitating transactions in excess of $2,830 without informing them first, most cartels have found ways to circumvent this law. That has enabled these cartels to launder a grand total of $25 billion dollars according to the UN’s International Narcotics Control board. That is a truly massive amount of cash that no one really has any control over. Seizing these assets can be more or less impossible if they are stored on the blockchain, and this indicates that the very things that make Bitcoin so impressive also make it difficult to manage and control.

Drug dealers are wrecking society in ways that are hard to fathom, and the role that Bitcoin plays in all of this definitely need to be addressed. Some suggest that increased regulation is the only way forward whereas others posit that current regulations are not able to do much which suggests that further ones could be similarly useful. Whatever the case may be, drug cartels will continue to be able to use their ill gotten money freely unless certain steps end up being taken.


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