The usage of digital currencies for various criminal activities is one of the main risks associated with them. Whether it’s terrorism funding, ransom payments, or black web sales.
Because they can convert the proceeds of a variety of operations through which they are financed into cryptocurrencies and easily move them anywhere in the world without being detected and dependent on the standard banking system, cryptocurrencies are perfect for financing terrorist groups and their operations.
They can then exchange them for cash and do business without leaving behind much of a trace. That appears to be the main concern states have when attempting to legalize these goods.
Of course, cryptocurrencies are not only used for illegal activities. The key advantage is a large decrease in transaction costs, no time restrictions on when transactions are available, no cap on the number of transactions, and independence from the traditional banking industry, which is getting more greedy and expensive every year. Croatia is a regional innovator; last year, the chain of Konzum markets allowed customers to pay with cryptocurrency in its establishments. The “iNovine” kiosks now accept cryptocurrency payments as of this week.
The Croatian FinTech business Electrocoin, a partner of iNovine, now accepts cryptocurrency payments at 250 sites throughout the country. PayCek, which is also used in Konzum marketplaces, was developed by Electrocoin. 14 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, USDT, USDC, XRP, solana, litecoin, dai, stellar, dogecoin, EOS, BUSD, and near, are accepted for payment on the PayCek platform.
Nevertheless, despite the best efforts, in 2021 there was a 30 percent increase in the amount of money that was “laundered” in cryptocurrencies, or 8.6 billion dollars. Criminals “earning” a record 14 billion dollars in cryptocurrencies at the same time.
This is one of the reasons that nations are modifying their legal solutions in an effort to discover a means to lessen cryptocurrency abuse. The Macedonian law against the financing of terrorism and the prevention of money laundering went into effect on July 12. The law was approved at the 71st session of the Macedonian Assembly, which was held on June 27. It becomes enforceable after being published in the Official Gazette. The cryptocurrency industry and the dangers of money laundering and terrorism financing are somewhat regulated by the new law.
