The impact of digitalisation on money laundering

Abstract

The crime of money laundering poses many dangers. It is used by a significant proportion of criminals to try to hide the proceeds of crime. This is mostly done through the banking system, but digitalisation is increasing the variety of options available to criminals. Money laundering through financial institutions is one of the most common forms of money laundering, but money laundering in the virtual space is also becoming increasingly common. Cryptocurrencies and crypto-assets are the main threat in this respect, as one person can have several virtual "wallets" and there is a high degree of anonymity. This increases latency and makes it almost impossible for the authorities to trace the origin of assets.