Bitcoin Has No ‘Visible Impact’ On Financial Crime says Hong Kong Government

For its alleged links with criminal networks and fraudulent activities, Bitcoin skeptics usually ridicule the cryptocurrency. However, a new report from the Hong Kong government notes that Bitcoin’s growing popularity has no “visible impact” on the risk of financial crimes.

In the government’s risk assessment report contained within its annual money laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) report states that Bitcoin and other “virtual currencies” (VCs) presently have a “medium-low” risk for causing financial crimes.

“Although there is inherent ML/TF vulnerability related to VCs, there does not seem to be any visible impact affecting the overall risk in Hong Kong so far. The risk of VCs is assessed as medium-low,” the multi-agency task force wrote in the report. “The current legal and regulatory provisions relating to ML, TF, fraud and other crimes are wide enough to catch offences involving the use of any general property, including VCs.” The report stated.

The report is based on an increasing body of research that holds the view that Bitcoin’s association with criminal activity have been exaggerated and that criminal activity have been on the decline since cryptocurrencies become more common in mainstream financial markets.

In a related issue, the office of Quebec’s chief government scientist recently released a fact check on cryptocurrencies that proved that Bitcoin is used less in crimes.

Actually, the US dollar is still the currency that is greatly used for criminal activities.

Yet, the fairytale is still been circulated that Bitcoin is an “index of money laundering.”

In a misleading op-ed, former PayPal CEO Bill Harris recently said Bitcoin is used entirely by criminals.