This time last December, one might reasonably have expected that 2014 would be a year of modest changes for the anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance sector. Then came JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas and a convoy of Russian tanks to quash that notion.
More than a year into an effort by the digital currency industry to convince critics that its promise doesn't extend to criminals more than consumers, Bitcoin proponents are questioning whether they have the right messenger to deliver their message.
For all of the legitimate concerns and overheated rhetoric about the rise of crypto-currencies, the biggest problem for Bitcoin may be one seldom discussed by critics: its abuse by tax dodgers.
Federal lawmakers are unlikely to move quickly to regulate digital currencies despite congressional skepticism about the technology, a senate staffer told attendees of a Bitcoin conference in New York.
With New York rules for digital currency exchanges in the works, other states are stepping up to draft rules of their own, speakers at a Manhattan Bitcoin conference said Monday.
New York should require some digital currency companies to collect and periodically verify customer information to deter financial criminals, Manhattan's district attorney told state regulators Wednesday.
With greater regulatory clarity, U.S. banks would embrace the digital currency companies they currently turn away due to compliance concerns, Bitcoin investors told New York State regulatory officials Tuesday.
A well-known advocate of digital currencies and the head of a Bitcoin exchange house facilitated over $1 million in transactions tied to an online black market, federal prosecutors said Monday.
The indictment Wednesday of an online black market for narcotics and weapons vendors could further hamper proponents of a growing digital currency in the eyes of bank compliance officers.
The second installation of a two-part story on how the Bitcoin market is changing under the scrutiny of federal and state officials.
When FinCEN issued its innocuously entitled guidance, "Application of FinCEN's Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging, or Using Virtual Currencies" in March, an already speculative currency may have received its death blow.
The U.S. Justice Department is expected to decide within the fiscal year whether prosecutors can bring charges against entities using a controversial virtual currency, an FBI official said Thursday.