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Italy constitutes a special unit for fighting crime in the field of cryptocurrency

31 May 2018 21:00, UTC
Vsevolod Gnetii

According to data released by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, an association that monitors international cybercrime, since early 2017 hackers have stolen a $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency.

The Roman court, according to the proposal of Consob (Supervisory authority for control of companies and the stock exchange), stopped the activity of the CryptoTrade website for abuses in the financial sphere, in particular, guaranteed monthly income from 17 to 29 percent.

In the Italian media leaked a piece of news that within the structure of the National Anti-Mafia Directorate is being created a particular unit to fight crimes in the sphere of turnover of bitcoin. This decision coincided with a recent statement by one of the members of the governing council of Antimafia, examining magistrate Antonio Laudati, that bitcoin is a "criminal invention".

The representatives of the Italian judicial system have two nightmares: laundering of the dirty capital of criminal origin by organized crime and owners of crypto-currencies as a potential target of international hackers.

It is expected that in the very near future, already in June-July, a ministerial decision will be adopted, unrivaled in Europe on the rigidity of the position concerning legal operators in the sphere of bitcoin turnover and receiving legal income, as well as in regard of administrators of crypto-currencies wallets and collective portfolio.

All of the above categories will be required to register in a special roster of the Central Bank of Italy and inform it of all suspicious transactions. Financial Guard and the postal police conducting investigations into the legalization of proceeds from crime will be granted access to all these data.

In fact, it is a case of creation of a national database on operations and operators in the field of cryptocurrency. Of particular concern with Italian law enforcement officers is the anonymity of holders and operators in the area of cryptocurrencies.