Last week I provided a snapshot into the cryptocurrency situation as it exists on the Asian Continent and, as promised, this week’s post provides a similar snapshot of the Americas. As with the Asian Continent review, there are simply too many countries in the Americas for me to focus on the entire group in one post without violating the rules of TL:DR. Rather, I will focus on some of the Americas’ crypto hotspots, which include the USA, Mexico, El Salvador, Columbia, Panama and Brazil.

As with everything I write, all topics wrap back to money laundering, and especially the topic of cryptocurrency. As we speak there is no better platform to launder stolen cash, mostly because crypto is decentralized. Therefore there are zero government regulations in place anywhere in the world that might motivate crypto coin operators or exchanges to comply with the types of AML regulations that banks typically deal with. For cyber criminals, it is like the wild west.

That being said, a large number of countries are aware of the AML issues surrounding crypto and are working to create their own, centralized digital currencies and in some cases, such as in China, ban decentralized currencies such as Bitcoin altogether. Once that happens history’s most productive cash washing machine will cease to function. Until then the floodgates are open! That’s not to say no FINcrooks are getting caught, because they are, but the percentage is low.

Read More