Despite increased legitimacy and increased consumer protection through new regulations, crypto poses a particular risk of money laundering. This was one of the messages from Johanne Andresen of KPMG at a money laundering seminar on Tuesday, which was also attended by Thuc Hoang of the crypto exchange Firi.
The seminar addressed both the market situation in Norway, the risk aspects of cryptocurrency, what a cryptocurrency exchanger is and how to assess the client's activity.
In the introduction to the seminar, Thuc expressed that the crypto market is still at an early stage. “Until now, the market has largely been driven by retail. But we now see that there have been new crypto exchange products coming in, which are allowing large institutional investors to come in. We are also seeing some European banks starting to hold crypto. With the new regulations, we expect increased growth in both Europe and the Nordic region,” said Thuc, who heads Norway's largest crypto exchange Firi.
According to a survey by K33 and EY, there are now 395,000 Norwegians who own cryptocurrency, an increase of 50,000 from the previous year.
Johanne Andresen also expects increased exposure of cryptocurrency as a topic going forward, both among friends and family, in the media, for banks and the financial sector as a whole, and for crypto players like Firi.
For the industry, Thuc believed that it is just to roll up our sleeves and get ready for the new European regulation MiCA, which will probably also be implemented in Norway.
How big is the money laundering problem associated with the industry? This is what opinions are divided on. Andresen shared, among other things, figures from surveys showing that only 4% of international money laundering is related to cryptocurrencies. But she emphasized that there is going to be an increased exposure, and also justified why cryptocurrency is particularly at risk: Cryptocurrency is limitless and cryptocurrency is anonymous, because you don't know who disposes of the relevant account on the blockchain. And the technological complexity is great, in that new services, new products and new cryptocurrencies are constantly emerging.
KMPG has adopted advanced methods and tools to identify money laundering risks, both on-chain and off-chain. Key control questions that they ask include who is the customer, what are the transaction histories and patterns, which exchange services have been used and what types of cryptocurrencies have been traded with.
We at Kaupr note that in parallel with the growth of the crypto market and the inherent risks, there is now also a professionalization both of the crypto industry and of the service sector around the industry. KPMG is one of several examples of this, including through its focus on banking and finance as a target audience, and with compliance and anti-money laundering as key focus areas. Johanne Andresen, who heads Forensic Services at KMPG, also has a background in Ekokrim.
Despite increased legitimacy and increased consumer protection through new regulations, crypto poses a particular risk of money laundering. This was one of the messages from Johanne Andresen of KPMG at a money laundering seminar on Tuesday, which was also attended by Thuc Hoang of the crypto exchange Firi.
The seminar addressed both the market situation in Norway, the risk aspects of cryptocurrency, what a cryptocurrency exchanger is and how to assess the client's activity.
In the introduction to the seminar, Thuc expressed that the crypto market is still at an early stage. “Until now, the market has largely been driven by retail. But we now see that there have been new crypto exchange products coming in, which are allowing large institutional investors to come in. We are also seeing some European banks starting to hold crypto. With the new regulations, we expect increased growth in both Europe and the Nordic region,” said Thuc, who heads Norway's largest crypto exchange Firi.
According to a survey by K33 and EY, there are now 395,000 Norwegians who own cryptocurrency, an increase of 50,000 from the previous year.
Johanne Andresen also expects increased exposure of cryptocurrency as a topic going forward, both among friends and family, in the media, for banks and the financial sector as a whole, and for crypto players like Firi.
For the industry, Thuc believed that it is just to roll up our sleeves and get ready for the new European regulation MiCA, which will probably also be implemented in Norway.
How big is the money laundering problem associated with the industry? This is what opinions are divided on. Andresen shared, among other things, figures from surveys showing that only 4% of international money laundering is related to cryptocurrencies. But she emphasized that there is going to be an increased exposure, and also justified why cryptocurrency is particularly at risk: Cryptocurrency is limitless and cryptocurrency is anonymous, because you don't know who disposes of the relevant account on the blockchain. And the technological complexity is great, in that new services, new products and new cryptocurrencies are constantly emerging.
KMPG has adopted advanced methods and tools to identify money laundering risks, both on-chain and off-chain. Key control questions that they ask include who is the customer, what are the transaction histories and patterns, which exchange services have been used and what types of cryptocurrencies have been traded with.
We at Kaupr note that in parallel with the growth of the crypto market and the inherent risks, there is now also a professionalization both of the crypto industry and of the service sector around the industry. KPMG is one of several examples of this, including through its focus on banking and finance as a target audience, and with compliance and anti-money laundering as key focus areas. Johanne Andresen, who heads Forensic Services at KMPG, also has a background in Ekokrim.
