UK authorities: cryptocurrency is not a game-changing tool for terrorists

The Treasury of the United Kingdom has prepared a report regarding the illicit finances and money laundering. It would be good to know what the analysts of one of the financial hubs of the world think. Turns out they decided that cryptocurrency poses “low risk” of becoming the main tool for terrorism financing in the next five years.

As for money laundering, here it’s not as good: cryptocurrency is often used for avoiding governmental control of finances due to its highly decentralized structure, and the authors of the Treasury’s report fully acknowledge this and writ about the laundering of “low amounts at high volume.” The more the use of digital currencies grows, the more it will be used for this purpose, Treasury researchers conclude.

The position that cryptocurrency would not become the primary tool of terrorism financing contradicts the view of many regulators around the world. For example, the recent statements from Nikolay Patrushev, Russian ex-head of FSB and currently – Secretary of the Russian Security Council, imply that terrorists widely use digital currency for financing.