Cyberlaundering, VASPs’ Regulation, and AML Policy Response

Abstract

The chapter addresses how the VASPs’ nature could lend itself to illicit uses, due to the technological progress that has allowed to protect the authors’ names of transactions with virtual currency. Background aspects such as the pandemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine may have accelerated the use of VASPs also in illicit terms. Therefore, regulation is necessary for the uncontrolled development of the illicit exploitation of a distributed ledger technology (DLT) as an upstream subject of VASPs. The role of the FAFT is essential to understand what the international orientation and commitment are in contrasting the cyberlaundering phenomenon, in which the VASPs represent one of the main players and a particularly attentive element to all international jurisdictions.