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Taiwan’s Central Bank Governor: Bitcoin Should be Regulated by Anti-Money Laundering Laws

The Governor of Taiwan’s central bank has said that bitcoin transactions should be regulated by anti-money laundering regulations, according to a report.

Yang Chin-long, the Governor of the Central Bank of Taiwan, suggested during a meeting held by Taiwan’s legislative arm that the Ministry of Justice should include bitcoin into the East Asian state’s Money Laundering Control Act, due to the lack of regulation surrounding the cryptocurrency, according to a report from the Taiwan News.

These comments from Yang follow on from remarks he made at a news conference toward the end of last month. In his statement, at the time, the governor urged the government to regulate the digital currency so as to prevent the local financial market from being disrupted.

During last month’s news conference, Yang argued that as 87.5 percent of bitcoin transactions have been owed by a mere 0.61 percent of trading accounts around the world, it is easy for the price of the cryptocurrency to be manipulated. Not only that, but major central bankers and international financial organisations don’t appear to be in favour of legalising the market, with many countries keeping taps on industry events.

With rising interest in the cryptocurrency market, so too are reports where money laundering is becoming a growing concern.

Last month it was reported by NewsBTC that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) had filed a lawsuit against digital payment processor Payza for allegedly operating an unlicensed money service business that processed more than $250 million in transactions. The company in question operates as an16 e-commerce business permitting payments and money transfers to be made across the globe, accepting Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple, and Dash. However, the DoJ indictment accuses the company of operating a money transmitting business without the required state licenses to do so. It’s reported that Payza also knowingly transmitted funds that came from illegal activities.

However, unlike money laundering cases by traditional banks, Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA) found that the number involved with cryptocurrencies is relatively small compared to the normal financial system. Figures from February show that there were only 669 suspected cases involving money laundering linked to digital currencies from exchange operators between April and December last year. This is compared to the 347,000 money laundering cases linked to the banking establishment in the same period.

Despite this, though, there will still be concern regarding the cryptocurrency market and its use for money laundering activities due to its unregulated nature. As a result, Taiwan’s central bank is one organisation that believes regulating it will help to prevent the threat of this from rising.