Money laundering remains one of the biggest challenges for law enforcement agencies. Importantly, French financial authorities are working hard to strengthen the country’s cryptocurrency regulations. This way they want to prevent illicit activities like money laundering and terrorism financing. Recently, several ministries jointly introduced an order aiming to prevent anonymous digital asset transactions by banning anonymous crypto accounts.
It is worth mentioning that, finance minister Bruno Le Maire, overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu as well as junior economy minister Olivier Dussopt, support the new regulatory effort. Importantly, the order is according to Article 203 of France’s PACTE law, which stands for the Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation.
People should take into account that, in the document, the ministries admitted that digital assets or cryptocurrencies provide substantial opportunities for the economy. According to the document, the government is fully aware of its importance.
However, crypto also comes with significant risks related to illicit financial activity.
Anonymous crypto accounts and risk factors
Interestingly, the ministers did not forget to mention a recent incident. As a reminder, the French police arrested people who used Bitcoin coupons to fund a jihadist network in Syria. They used cryptocurrency coupons in an attempt to cover their tracks.
Importantly, major global authorities, as well as organizations like the Financial Action Task Force, the G7, and G20, called for measures to prevent illicit activity using crypto.
As mentioned above, the government understands the importance of cryptocurrencies. The government wants to promote the development of crypto assets under the best conditions of security and attractiveness. Notably, the country’s government is preparing to introduce new regulatory provisions to apply new digital identification tools for crypto transactions as well as virtual asset service providers. Importantly, the request that comes from actors that operate in that industry, will make it possible to fight against anonymous transactions in digital assets while facilitating identification.
It is no secret that criminal groups started to use cryptocurrencies for various purposes. Moreover, it takes a lot of time and effort to investigate such cases. However, it won’t be enough to tackle the issues mentioned above only inside the country.
French authorities should join forces with officials from neighbouring countries to prevent money laundering as well as other crimes. This way will be easier to protect individuals and companies from illegal activities. Hopefully, the French government understands the significance of cryptocurrencies. They want to make sure that no one will use cryptocurrencies to break the law.
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