Meet DOJ's Crypto Czar: Expert Take

Expert Takes cover everything from Blockchain technology and ICO funding to taxation, regulation and cryptocurrency adoption by different sectors of the economy.

Ever since taking the helm as the U.S. Department of Justice's first Digital Currency Counsel in September of 2017, Michele R. Korver has been fielding questions regarding cryptocurrencies from U.S. Attorney's Offices nationwide , developing policy on cryptocurrency prosecutions and forfeiture procedures, and coordinating cryptocurrency related multi-jurisdictional-international, national and state-money laundering investigations.

These money laundering cases go hand-in-hand with prosecutions involving the sale of controlled substances, as cryptocurrencies are believed to be the most oft-used means of payment around the world for illegal goods and services on encrypted dark websites which serve as an ever-growing shadow banking system for crypto criminals.

While the full scale of misuse of cryptocurrencies by the multinational criminal cartels are unknown, the European Union mafia market value has been reported at almost 110 billion euro, about 1% of EU GDP with money laundering focused on dark web markets, MSB, casinos, slot machines, games and betting.

EU's Special Committee on Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance in a recent report stated that the key issue to be addressed concerning cryptocurrencies - preferably by the G-20 - is their anonymity which hinders cryptocurrency transactions from being adequately monitored by law enforcement, regulators or taxmen.

Operation Dark Gold - first of its kind nationwide darknet cryptocurrency launderer arrests.

"In a first nationwide undercover operation targeting over sixty-five darknet vendors in nineteen states, more than 40 dark-web drug-linked cryptocurrency money launderers were arrested as part of a sweeping federal effort by the DOJ at the end of June" announced the Department of Justice on June 26, 2018.

Illegal, unlicensed money transmitting business exchanging fiat for cryptocurrencies, which fueled a black-market financial system in the Central District of California, according to a July 9, 2018, release from the United States Attorney in Los Angeles.

"Cryptocurrencies with anonymity features impede investigations of flow of money which in turn allows illicit transactions to occur outside of the regulatory perimeter", - explained Assistant United States Attorney Puneet V. Kakkar of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section.

With the best efforts of international law enforcement agencies being dwarfed by technological challenges related to anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies and growing demand for cryptocurrencies illicit use-Korver's job will be a tough act to follow.