DeFiisrevolutionizingthefinancialworldbyprovidingopen,approval-free,peer-to-peerwaysto transact,thankstoblockchain.DeFiallowsmorefinancialopportunitiesanddifference,butitalso presentsproblemsforAMLandcompliance due tohowitisdecentralized,usespseudonymsand is available in different countries. It describes in detail the barriers faced in DeFi within the EU duetotechnologyandregulations.ItdiscusseswhytraditionallawsareoftenunsuitableforDeFi, leading to questions about regulations, regulatory boundaries and any gaps in enforcing them. StudyingspecificcasesintheEU,thearticleexploresthejourneyofAMLregulationsandpoints out some of the obstacles inside the regulatory sphere due to swift changes in decentralized technology.Movingon,ithighlightsthatitisdifficulttoenforcethelawindecentralizednetworks. The study puts forward a group of guidelines in policy, law and technology to improve AML compliance in DeFi without hindering its advancements. For example, EU regulators may align theirrulesformemberstates,createbetterframeworksforliabilityofdecentralizedmarketactors, utilizeregtechandencourageteamworkbetweenregulators,technologistsandindustrymembers. Based on the findings, rigid and uncooperative regulations will not only fail to tackle issues in DeFibutalsoslowdowninnovation.Thus,thisarticleoffersideasforfuturediscussionsandrules on safeguarding money matters in the growing world of decentralized finance.
Andrew Isaak, Baris Istipliler, Suleika Bort, Michael Woywode
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) represent a novel organizational form enabling self-governed coordination based on blockchain technology. This study examines the prototypical Bitcoin DAO from an institutional perspective, focusing on how its core featuresâdecentralization and autonomyâinteract with the broader institutional framework in which it operates. Specifically, we study how regulative institutional environments (i.e., (il)legalization) shape the growth and development of DAOs while theorizing about the role of both petty and grand corruption (i.e., by higher-level officials) in influencing the effectiveness of these regulative institutions. Our empirical analysis focuses on the global rise of Bitcoin trading and platform establishment across 49 national contexts from 2011 to 2023. Utilizing a unique data set, we find that, although the number of Bitcoin exchange platforms in a country is positively associated with Bitcoin legalization, Bitcoin trading volume is positively associated with Bitcoin illegalization. In countries with higher levels of grand corruption, Bitcoin illegalization becomes even more strongly associated with trading. In contrast, grand corruption dampens the positive association between legalization and the number of Bitcoin exchange platforms. Further, the presence of petty corruption reduces the impact of grand corruption. Our study reveals that it is critical to distinguish between petty and grand corruption as an important factor that influences the interplay between the regulative environment and growth and development of the Bitcoin DAO and the related ecosystem of Bitcoin trading and platform founding.
The constitutionalising of local self-government through the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments marked a significant moment in Indiaâs democratic and federal evolution. These reforms sought to deepen democracy by devolving powers, responsibilities and resources to local governments. More than three decades later, decentralization in India has produced institutions that are electorally vibrant but administratively constrained. This paper examines the paradox of extensive formal devolution coexisting with persistent state control. Using the analytical framework of finance, functions, and functionaries (the â3Fsâ), it argues that decentralization in India has unfolded as a managed and politically conditioned process rather than a comprehensive transfer of authority. While fiscal transfers and functional assignments have expanded unevenly, control over administrative personnel has remained firmly centralized. The retention of authority over functionaries emerges as the central mechanism through which state governments preserve power over local governance. The paper contributes to decentralization scholarship by shifting attention from constitutional design to political economy, highlighting personnel control as the key constraint on substantive local self-government in India.
Introduction: the study covers features of investigation activities of internal affairs in countering bribery committed with the use of digital financial and cryptocurrency assets. Materials and Methods: the doctrinal law provisions on the investigation activities of the internal affairs in the light of the fight against corruption became the study materials. Regulations on countering bribery committed with digital financial and cryptocurrency assets were the basic study sources. The author used universal (analysis, deduction, and induction) and special (structure logic, dialectical, and legal) methods of cognition. Literature review: the author analyzed investigation and criminology scientific works, as well as considered studies on informational and telecommunication technologies in countering bribery. Thus, he came to the conclusion that H.A. Asatryan, A.P. Dmitrienko, M.G. Zhigas, V.S. Ishigeev, A.V. Kulikov, A.I. Ovchinnikov, A.L. Repetskaya and others contributed substantially to the study. Results: the following conclusions were drawn from the research: - The most challenging issues concerning the detection and documentation of bribery committed using digital financial and cryptocurrency assets were analysed by the author. - The most common ways to identify crypto wallets and their users, which can be used by internal affairs bodies, were considered. - The scheme of criminal transactions related to bribery was presented. - The regularity in the use of information and telecommunication technologies by internal affairs bodies in combating bribery committed using digital financial and cryptocurrency assets was defined. Discussion and Conclusions: there are signs of circulation of digital financial and cryptocurrency assets in bribery. The author presents his own variant of the inquiry for crypto platform to receive necessary information for the investigation; measures to improve investigation efficiency in internal affairs bodies when combating bribery committed with digital financial and cryptocurrency assets.
Matthew M. Kavanagh, Luis Gil Abinader, Fatima Hassan, Eli A. Friedman
Scientific advances to fight infectious diseases have been remarkable. International law and global governance have sought, and often failed, to keep pace, secure equity, and stop outbreaks. We trace the law and governance model emerging from early failure in the AIDS response and identify four elements: use of law by national governments to compel sharing; decentralized generic manufacturing; mechanisms for voluntary sharing of patents and technology transfer; international funding. In combination, these created a remarkable new ecosystem. We find that when COVID-19 hit and mRNA vaccines were rapidly developed, global North governments opposed mobilizing this synergistic model. Instead, equity efforts focused on financing purchase of vaccines from originator companies with little use of law. Amidst monopolies and scarcity of doses, vaccine nationalism fatally undermined this effort. Whether more synergistic law and governance emerges from rapidly changing global health law will likely dictate the efficacy of future global infectious disease response.
While still in their nascent stages, cryptocurrencies have the potential to reshape the international political economy by hastening the end of US dollar hegemony and reducing the USâs coercive financial power. Recently, governments have adopted various regulatory approaches to these new technologies. Most commonly, countries have implemented an array of partial and absolute bans. What explains governmentsâ responses to the new and potentially disruptive technology? We argue that governmentsâ decisions to ban cryptocurrencies stem from their desire to maintain monetary control. While cryptoization threatens all governmentsâ monetary policy autonomy, governments who choose to fix their exchange rates and restrict cross-border movement of capital are most motivated to ban crypto because digital currencies can be used to evade exchange and capital controls. A countryâs regime type also affects its ability to enact bans; democracies will be less likely to enact a ban than autocracies. Our results suggest that cryptocurrency threatens the international political and economic status quo less than many speculate because regimes most likely to be at odds with US monetary and financial dominance face a strong incentive to ban the technologies in their own countries.
Aziz N. Berdiev, Rajeev K. Goel, James W. Saunoris
Abstract The recent prevalence of digital currencies has challenged policymakers as they try to control the supply of money and rein in clandestine activities. Corruption and shadow economy are widely prevalent illegal/unobserved activities that have been hard to eliminate worldwide. These longstanding and entrenched activities have possibly found a new avenue to thrive and evade detection/punishment. So disentangling the nexus between corruption, shadow economy, and digital currencies is important. Using recent crossâcountry data, this paper analyzes the interrelationships between corruption, shadow economy, and cryptocurrencies. We argue that a large underground sector in a nation provides a mechanism through which corrupt government officials use cryptocurrencies to conceal their unauthorized earnings. Employing formal mediation analysis, our results show that the positive nexus between corruption and cryptocurrency adoption is mediated by the shadow sector. Quantitatively speaking, threeâfourths of the correlation between corruption and cryptocurrency usage is mediated by the shadow economy. The primary implication of our findings is that effective monitoring of cryptocurrencies should pay attention to policies to control both corruption and the shadow economy.
⢠We study governance mechanisms in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). ⢠Regression discontinuity design on contested proposals overcomes endogeneity concerns. ⢠Distributed governance mechanisms increase tokenholders value. ⢠Proposal passage increases DAO token returns by 4.7 % at the margin. ⢠Effect amplified by voter participation, DAO democratization, and DAO decentralization. Distributed governance mechanisms increase tokenholders value in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) when decision-making is contested. Using a comprehensive dataset of proposals voted on within blockchain-based DAOs from 2020 to 2024, we exploit a regression discontinuity design on proposals that pass or fail by a close margin around the majority threshold. Local average treatment effects indicate that proposal passage increases DAO token returns by 4.7 % at the margin. Further, a one standard deviation increase in vote participation amplifies this effect by 2.2 %. Proxies for democratization and decentralization also increase the value-creating effect of contested decision-making in DAOs. Our findings contribute to understanding how distributed governance structures create value in digital organizations.
The healthcare corruption has aroused heated discussions in China recently.From the beginning of 2023 to the present, at least 155 hospital directors have been investigated that the number is more than twice that of last year.The healthcare corruption was not only a matter of physician morality but also reflected the defects of China's medical system. 1 Since the establishment of China's Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) in 1998, China has formed a fragmented health insurance system in urban areas.Fragmentation hindered the mutual aid function of health insurance.Therefore, from 2009 to 2020, China carried out the health financing reform of UEBMI which adjusted the pooling level from the county to the municipal level.However, the increasing financialization of the healthcare system would result in physicians weakening accountability to the public. 2Horizontal integration and vertical management of fiscal power enabled the municipal governments to concentrate and allocate health funding, but the administrative decentralization led to laxity of spending supervision by county governments.This flawed system was a tough test for physicians.Without supervision, physicians might induce patients to increase healthcare services for the purpose of maximizing income. 3Figure 1 was the framework of Unified Pool arrangement in China.The paper aimed to discuss whether the unified pool reform would trigger healthcare corruption.Treating the pooling level adjustment reform of UEBMI as a quasi-experiment, the study tried to interpret the empirical results based on Chinese health insurance regulations, and explored the reasons for the high incidence of healthcare corruption in China.Instead of focusing solely on patients' utilization of healthcare services, the paper considered the behaviors of healthcare provider (eg, hospitals, physicians) and healthcare policy executor (eg, county governments, medical insurance bureau) by a quasi-experiment.The effects of the unified pool reform on outpatient expenditure were examined by using the staggered DID model, and the moderating effects of physician density were examined by using DDD model.The micro data in the study were from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018 The macro data were from China City Statistical Yearbook.The documents were from on the official websites of the municipal-level governments, the Medical Insurance Bureau, and the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.After excluding the samples with missing information and the samples of municipalities directly under the central government, this paper finally obtained panel data for 4 periods, 573 respondents who were continuously tracked, and a total of 2292 observations.Table 1 showed that the treatment effects on outpatient reimbursement expenditure were significant at a 5% significance level, no matter whether control variables were added.The implementation of unified pool reform would lead to a significant increase in outpatient reimbursement expenditure, rather than copayment expenditure.The treatment effects on outpatient expenses were also mainly caused by the increase in outpatient reimbursement expenditure.We utilized the parallel trend test
Fraud across the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem is growing, with victims losing billions to DeFi scams every year. However, there is a disconnect between the reported value of these scams and associated legal prosecutions. We use open-source investigative tools to (1) investigate potential frauds involving Ethereum tokens using on-chain data and token smart contract analysis, and (2) investigate the ways proceeds from these scams were subsequently laundered. The analysis enabled us to (1) uncover transaction-based evidence of several rug pull and pump-and-dump schemes, and (2) identify their perpetratorsâ money laundering tactics and cash-out methods. The rug pulls were less sophisticated than anticipated, money laundering techniques were also rudimentary and many funds ended up at centralized exchanges. This study demonstrates how open-source investigative tools can extract transaction-based evidence that could be used in a court of law to prosecute DeFi frauds. Additionally, we investigate how these funds are subsequently laundered.
Bitcoin is a virtual currency that provides a completely decentralized secure alternative to the currencies currently used. Nakamoto, the creator of this cryptocurrency, published an article on an encryption mailing list in 2008 with the title âBitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash Systemâ, thus giving the creation of this virtual currency. This study aims to analyze the Bitcoin and what factors can influence its price, in the context of a pandemic. This work will focus on the bitcoin price and on five different factors likely to have an influence on his price, such as: Hash Rate, Mining Difficulty, Volatility Index, Google Search and Transaction Cost. The period for this research ranges from 15/03/2020 to 14/11/2021, a total of 96 weeks, to integrate the covid-19 factor into the study. The results show that the variables fsCoinCirculation and fsTransationCost are both necessary conditions for an increase on the bitcoin price, but for low values of bitcoin price there are no necessary conditions. Additionally, findings suggest that Hash Rate influences the price of bitcoin. Finally, fsVix variable was found to be a variable with an important implication in price, namely, in its volatility.
What explains variation in the structure and practices of collective vigilantism? I develop a framework that focuses on relations among victims and between victims and the state. I use the framework to compare variation in collective vigilantism enacted by avocado and berry sectors in Michoac'n, Mexico. Centralized collective vigilantism by the avocado sector entailed a single sectoral organization coordinating victims' extra-legal activities with no interference from local politicians. By contrast, decentralized collective vigilantism by the berry sector consisted of multiple autonomous groups of victims in conflict with criminals, local political authorities and among each other as they competed for power and resources. These differences in collective vigilantism can be traced back to differences in the local political economies that shape relations among victims and between them and the state.
Sean Foley, Bart Frijns, Alexandre Garel, TaiâYong Roh
We examine the relationship between national culture and a country's Bitcoin activity. Given that Bitcoin is a high-risk currency/investment that is frequently used for illegal purposes and whose market is relatively opaque, we focus on the cultural dimension of individualism, which has been related to financial market participation, risk-taking behavior, and overconfidence. Using unique data that includes the originating country for Bitcoin transactions, we examine the relationship between individualism and a country's Bitcoin activity for a sample of 80 countries between 2009 and 2020. We find a significant and positive relationship between a country's individualism and its use of Bitcoin consistent with cultural values affecting the demand for such high-risk currency/investments.
Christian Leuprecht, Caitlyn Jenkins, Rhianna Hamilton
Purpose This study aims to explain how cryptocurrency is leveraged for illicit purposes across the global financial system. Specifically, it establishes how cryptocurrency has been changing the nature of transnational and domestic money laundering (ML). It then assesses the effectiveness of conventional anti-money laundering (AML) policy and legislation against the proliferation of crypto laundering, using Canada as a critical case study. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from court cases and secondary sources to build cross-case trends of cryptocurrency use in ML. Illicit International Political Economy forms the theoretical foundation for this study, whose contribution is situated in the current literature on crypto-ML. Findings This study finds that Bitcoin is common among crypto-money launderers, though most also use some form of alt-coin, and that the use of third-party currency exchanges is a prevalent method to create illicit funds and conceal proceeds of crime. The findings validate two hypotheses that illicit use of crypto is prevalent in the first two stages of ML, and that crypto is most often used in conjunction with other fiat currencies. Although law enforcement is improving on monitoring and understanding popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, alt-coins pose a significant challenge for criminal intelligence. New regulations for third-party currency exchanges are having a positive impact on curtailing crypto-laundering but are shown to be insufficient per se to contain the use of crypto in criminal activity. Originality/value This study contributes to a more robust understanding of the use of virtual currency in transnational and domestic ML. It contributes to an emerging body of literature on the role of technological change in enabling the global flow of illicit funds. It also informs public policy on virtual currency in general, and on AML regulation in Canada in particular.
In the development of information and communication technology, there are many developments that occur. One of them is the emergence of NFTs as the latest trend in digital trading. This, of course, is a new breakthrough in the digital world. However, this can also be a loophole in committing money laundering crimes. In this research, we are using a qualitative descriptive approach with analytical methods. The result of this analysis is thatThe main problem with money laundering via NFTs and cryptocurrencies is the lack of understanding of the role of cryptocurrencies in financial crimes. As long as this misunderstanding is not addressed, the potential for the use of NFTs as a new method of financial crime will increase sharply to the point of endangering national security.
Cryptocurrency has become ubiquitous and is evolving constantly. The question is if our legal framework is catching up with it. Therefore, this article analyzes the arguments on the legitimacy and legality of cryptocurrency in order to emphasize the relation between corruption and cryptocurrency. The research has enlightened some cogent arguments on the possibility of perpetrators committing corruption acts through cryptocurrency. These arguments basically refer to some of the unique characteristics of cryptocurrency such as the quick value fluctuation, the difficulties in tractability and the lacking current legislation. The unique features of it may headline cryptocurrency as an immensely attractive environment for corruption activities. Hence the world has already faced some tangled scamming scandals with cryptocurrency specified herein. Therefore, the aim of this article is to highlight the possibility for corruption acts to be committed through cryptocurrency as a form of corruption unknown before.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) annual report points out that complaints related to the education sector for financial misuses occupy the largest share consistently in the past few years. In this context, the paper aims to draw on types and patterns of educational corruption in Nepal in the context of education decentralization since 2000. Further, it interprets how it takes place and its associated factors. Undertaking the qualitative content analysis of annual reports of CIAA and Office of the Auditor General (OAG) of Nepal between 2010 and 2015, this article portrays financial irregularities taking place consistently under construction work, teacher salary, and student-related grants - showing or allocating more funds, releasing additional teacher salary and inflating student numbers. The existing literature on education decentralization and corruption entails various factors for financial mismanagement - lack of local capacity, elite capture of public funds, etc. Using education decentralization as a theoretical lens (Mc Ginn & Welsh, 1999), this paper argues that poor monitoring and lack of policy implementation are major factors for the misuse of education finance in Nepal, coupled with complex procedural aspects of the public fund flow system. Thus, an adequate support system, especially during the early phase, can facilitate the decentralization of education and combat corruption.
Abstract Blockchain is a new general-purpose technology that poses significant challenges to policymaking, law, and society. Blockchain is even more distinctive than other transformative technologies, as it is by nature a global technology; moreover, it operates based on a set of rules and principles that have a law-like qualityâthe lex cryptographia. The global nature of blockchain has led to its adoption by international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. However, the law-like nature of the technology makes some of its uses by international organizations questionable from an international law and foreign affairs perspective. In this light, the article examines the effectiveness and legitimacy of the use of blockchain for international policymaking.