Is NFTs Giving Rise To Money Laundering?

Page 1

Is NFTs Giving Rise To Money Laundering?

Bch consulting


Over the past year, we have witnessed an explosion of interest and value in non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”). Although the complexity of

NFTs can be

somewhat complicated, they are essentially a form of digital painting that can be bought and sold under the guise of ignorance provided by blockchain technology. That ignorance, especially when coupled with relatively new technology, creates a ripe environment for money manipulation. The Certified Fraud Examiners Association defines

money laundering as a “disguise of the existence, nature, source, control, beneficial ownership, location and use of property derived from criminal activity”.


COST OF NFT

Because of their inventive character, NFTs have an individual value. The cost of an NFT is determined even though someone is willing to pay for it and, like traditional paintings, where an artist can spend a week in one piece; multiple NFTs can be created in a matter of minutes. For example, see the image below You do not have any problems with image loading on your computer; What you see is a simple gray box It is an NFT known as Pixel, produced by an artist known as Pax, and sold for about $ 1.3 million at Sotheby’s auction in April 2021. A person who wants to “clean up” dirty money can theoretically create an unknown NFT; List it for sale on the blockchain; Buy it from an unknown, uncontrolled digital wallet with an anonymous fund; And then accept the money from the sale of paintings as a legitimate fund


National Defense Authorities Act Although there are a few NFT rules to date, the National Defense Authorities Act was enacted by Congress and included in the Anti-Money Laundering Act ("AML"). In addition, the Financial Action Task Force, a money laundering and terrorist finance watchdog group, has given it new guidance on "virtual property" and related risks. As blockchain technology is reinventing the business process, it is important to be vigilant and aware that these emerging technologies can be used before they can be fully understood and controlled. The nonfungible token space has been a hotbed of activity over the past month, but there may be more to the sector than concerns about money laundering and tax evasion.


Crypto

investor

and

Uber-British

crypto

analyst

Mr. Bagh has drawn attention to the dark side of the increased NFT space. In a blog post earlier this week, Bitcoin facilitated the popularity and notoriety

of

early

adopters

NFTs

for

laundering and tax evasion for the rich.

money


What is the future of NFT Tokens? Most people today probably know more about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as technology first appeared in 2014 not to mention a lot. NFTs are becoming a popular way to buy and sell digital art, but that is changing. According to digital analytics firm Dapradar, NFT was valued at about $ 2.4 billion in the second quarter of 2021, up slightly from the $ 2.3 billion sold during the first quarter of the first NFT art franchise. Leading auction houses and galleries are now selling NFT art - Bipal holds the $ 69 million NFT record - and tens of thousands of online art sales platforms are looking for artists and collectors to join the NFT art craze.


NFT Applications So, what exactly is an NFT, and why is

NFT money laundering? The underlying technology and

programming language used to build NFT is the same as that used to generate cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. But about all their similarities Physical money and cryptocurrencies are "fable" meaning they can be traded or exchanged for each other. One US dollar is always the value of another US dollar; One bitcoin is always the same as the other bitcoin On the other hand, an NFT is a digital asset with a "one-of-a-kind" status Each NFT created has its own unique digital nature character Of course, like cryptocurrencies, NFTs stay in a blockchain, a distributed public laser that records transactions. Specifically, NFTs are usually placed on Et ether blockchains, although other blockchains also support them.


NFT Risks Why are people spending millions on screenshots or downloads so easily? The reason for this is simple: an NFT allows a buyer to own a basic, isolated property. Its built-in authentication acts as proof of ownership Basically, NFTs are the digital analogs of physical collector items. Instead of getting oil painting once, the buyer owns a special digital version instead. All sorts of things are becoming NFT - from art and GIFs to video and sports highlights, designer sneakers, music, and more. Even tweets are counted Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has sold his first tweet as NFT for more than $ 2.9 million. By their nature, NFTs have already shown a tendency to abuse and cheat. As NFTs become more and more popular, they are forced to understand how this new technology works and how NFT art is still being tested for money laundering, and anti-fraud measures.


Current view As

compliance

relative

professionals

ignorance

technology

has

that

NFT

created

an

become enjoys

more

due

to

environment

aware,

the

blockchain for

money

manipulation. At the heart of the risk is the fact that NFTs are purchased using cryptocurrencies and provide more sophistication in the investigation of these transactions. Collectors see the opportunity to achieve great art, inadvertently creating a spike in the number of people who are unknowingly tech savvy NFT people.


CONTACT US Tallinn, Estonia office@bchconsulting.eu +372 5302 3522 https://bchconsulting.eu/


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.