جمعه, ۲۷ تیر ۱۳۹۳، ۰۳:۵۲ ب.ظ
Italian Authorities Issue Bitcoin Warnings, Urge Regulation
Three
Italian institutions have issued new bitcoin warnings in recent days,
calling for new legislation to eliminate loopholes and regulatory
ambiguity
The warnings come just weeks after Italian lawmakers met with a group of bitcoin advocates in a fact-finding session. Soon after that, on 1st July, the successful ‘No Cash Day’ event also saw bitcoin representatives advocating for the digital currency in parliament.
Bitcoin regulation urged
Speaking in an interview with Ansa.it,
Attorney General of Rome, Luigi Ciampoli, warned that bitcoin could be
abused by criminals engaged in money laundering, financing of terrorism,
or mafia activities. He urged for regulation that would allow
authorities to trace and identify all persons involved in digital
currency transactions.
However, Ciampoli also made some relatively positive comments about
bitcoin, saying that the system “has its own charm” and has the
potential to simplify transactions.
Ciampoli stressed that the current legislative framework is vague and
that the problem should be addressed by new, specific legislation.
He argued that the bitcoin system “does not provide ample clarity”
and that it is difficult to identify subjects involved in bitcoin
transactions, meaning the currency has potential be misused for illicit
purposes. Ciampoli pointed out that bitcoin’s public ledger does not
guarantee that each user can be identified, as new owners are identified
by a numerical code, which is not a real identity.
The court, he said, would like to see “precise and rigorous” rules to
counter crimes involving digital currencies. Furthermore, bitcoin
offers an “interesting new perspective, the legitimacy of which seems to
solicit appropriate legislation to shelter operators from uncertainty
and poor visibility”.
Money laundering a concern
In a recent report on the Italian financial information system (FIU),
the Bank of Italy also warned that bitcoin poses a potential risk and
that it can be employed to circumvent money laundering regulations or
funnel funds to terrorist organisations.
The FIU is currently examining bitcoin’s potential for illicit
activities and looking at complaints involving suspect bitcoin
transactions. Like Ciampoli, the bank warns that “bitcoin transactions,
while recorded in an online database, do not identify the parties
involved in the transaction”.
Anonymity blamed
This sentiment is shared by Colonel Albert Reda of the Guardia di
Finanza, Italy’s financial police authority, which is currently the only
institution in Italy with the authority and resources to deal with
bitcoin.
Reda told Italian daily La Repubblica
that bitcoin’s volatility poses a risk for investors and that its
anonymity allows Italian residents to hold and transfer wealth
anonymously. Reda said the Guardia di Finanza is involved in an ongoing
investigation, but he said he cannot disclose any information.
He said that the absence of any form of regulation makes bitcoin a
“potentially powerful tool for money laundering, drug trafficking and
arms trafficking.”
Furthermore, the Tor
network can be employed to obscure online identities of persons involved
in bitcoin transactions, while the bitcoin public ledger does not
include information such as names, addresses or beneficiaries, as
bitcoin addresses are “simply numeric codes”.
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