In its campaign against cryptocurrency fraud, Israel is upping the ante. New legislation has gone into action to prevent illegal behavior and normalize the use of bitcoin and other FinTech products, according to the Authority for Combating Terrorism Financing and Money Laundering’s director.
The execution of these regulations, as stated by the leader, Shlomit Wegman, will help to establish order and clear norms.
New restrictions and benefits
The regulations are a direct result of the Financial Action Task Force’s 2018 requirements. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is made up of 39 members and a global network of FATF-style regional entities that span 200 dominions.
Wegman believes that the new restrictions will benefit compliant crypto enterprises by putting potential clients’ minds at ease. It also relieves them of the unpleasant task of self-regulation.
Money laundering thrived in Israel in the past due to a lack of regulatory scrutiny and the speed with which money may be moved between different crypto companies.
Crypto businesses must now publish reports in the same way that banks must, and extensive customer identification requirements will be implemented to improve the granularity of digital paper trails.
The growing use of cryptocurrencies in Israel has prompted tax officials to require that residents disclose their crypto-asset holdings by December 2020.
Israel stepping up its anti-crypto crime efforts
In order to tackle ransomware attacks, Israel has joined the US Department of Treasury, with extortionists preferring cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Monero.
The National Bureau for Counter-Terrorism Financing in Israel recently seized cryptocurrencies that had been sent to the militant group Hamas for use by its military branch, among other things. A rise in cryptocurrency donations to Hamas has led up to this.
Interactions with crypto exchanges were the Achilles’ heel in this instance, making it simple for law authorities to freeze illegal proceeds.
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