Virtual currencies and terrorist financing: assessing the risks and evaluating responses

Please note: Each EPRS Study is assigned a DOI (digital object identifier), which is a safe and long term way of ensuring a hyperlink to the full text of this report. However, when ESO creates this record, on occasion the DOI still has not been activated by the EU Bookshop. If you find the source url hyperlink does not work please use the alternative location hyperlink listed as a related url.This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the TERR Committee, explored the terrorist financing (TF) risks of virtual currencies (VCs), including cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. It described the features of VCs that present TF risks, and reviewed the open source literature on terrorist use of virtual currencies to understand the current state and likely future manifestation of the risk. It then reviewed the regulatory and law enforcement response in the EU and beyond, assessing the effectiveness of measures taken to date. Finally, it provided recommendations for EU policymakers and other relevant stakeholders for ensuring the TF risks of VCs are adequately mitigated.

European Parliament: European Parliamentary Research Service: Study, May 2018: Virtual currencies and terrorist financing: assessing the risks and evaluating responses http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/604970/IPOL_STU(2018)604970_EN.pdf

---