One US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent told the press that “she wants criminals to continue using Bitcoin” because it allows them to be traced.
Speaking to Bloomberg reporters on August 7, Lilita Infante, who is one of the top 10 agents on the investigative team investigating cybercrimes, said that thanks to blockchain, officers have “a lot of tools” to monitor criminal activity.
“Blockchain actually gives us a lot of tools that help us identify people,” she told the publisher.
Bitcoin has long faced claims from critics that criminals ranging from drug traffickers to money launderers benefit from the anonymity of cryptocurrencies. Critics say regulators should take steps to limit their free use for the sake of public safety.
However, given the latest DEA research, Infante said the percentage of Bitcoin transactions that involve illegal activity has dropped from 90% to 10% in 2018.
At the same time, she stressed that the overall number of transactions has also increased.
“The total market size is showing extraordinary growth, the number of transactions and the value of the dollar in criminal activity have increased, but the ratio has decreased.”
When talking about altcoins, especially those focused on anonymity like Monero and Zcash, Infante said that even they will not help the owner fly under the DEA radar.
“We have many ways to track them,” she said.
The biggest problem for regulators at the moment is price speculation. US authorities are currently focused on finalizing cryptocurrency tax laws, as most Americans still do not want to declare such income. Tax collectors sued the country's largest exchange, Coinbase, and demanded access to their user data.
According to https://bitcoinist.com
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