Cryptocurrency-Related Crime And Fraud Generates Staggering Statistics

Data published from the first full year under Japan's cryptocurrency exchange reporting regulations has shown a substantial increase in reports of suspected money laundering events –more than tenfold the amount reported between April and December of 2017. In 2018, 7,096 cryptocurrency transactions demonstrating certain suspicious indicia, such as those originating overseas but using accounts registered in Japan, were reported to Japanese police. Other suspicious transactions involved the use of accounts held under different names and birth dates but featuring matching photo IDs. The number of reports from 2018 represents a 960 percent increase over data from the nine-month period in 2017, beginning in April of that year, after Japan's Payment Services Act took effect, requiring all crypto exchanges to be registered under an FSA license. According to reports, the increase in suspicious transactions in cryptocurrency tracks a wider increase in suspected money laundering