U.S. Department of Justice

National Drug Intelligence Center

Product No. 2008-R0709-003

June 2008

Money Laundering in Digital Currencies Money Laundering in Digital Currencies

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Product No. 2008-R0709-003 National Drug Intelligence CenterTable of ContentsKey Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Substantiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

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Money Laundering in Digital Currencies

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U.S. Department of JusticeNational Drug Intelligence Center

Assessment Product No. 2008-R0709-003

Money Laundering in Digital CurrenciesJune 3, 2008Key Judgment

Digital currencies combine the intrinsic value 

of gold and other precious metals as well as the designated value of national currencies with the worldwide reach of the Internet to create an ideal mechanism for international money laundering. Users can anonymously fund digital currency accounts, send those funds (sometimes in unlimited amounts) to other digital currency accounts worldwide, and effectively exchange the funds for foreign currencies—often while bypassing U.S. regulatory oversight. 

Introduction

Digital currencies provide an ideal money 

laundering instrument because they facilitate international payments without the 

transmittal services of traditional financial institutions.1 Such currencies allow direct 

access to a remote payment mechanism and can be used to launder illicit funds by sending instant international remittances via the Internet. Many components of the digital currency 

system are incorporated in offshore and foreign jurisdictions not subject to U.S. regulations; however, their services are accessed in the United States through the Internet. As such, transactions can be completed with less fear of documentation, identification, or law enforcement suspicion. Such emerging electronic payment systems are vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing.

Digital currencies are privately owned 

online payment systems that allow international payments, which are often denominated in the standard weights for gold and precious metals.2 Each digital currency functions as one transnational currency; however, none of these are recognized as currencies by the U.S. government.3 Most digital currencies claim to be backed by precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium; however, very few can independently prove such backing. Several digital currencies claim to be backed by specific national currencies. Metal-backed digital currency accounts are allegedly valued based on the backing commodity’s fluctuating “spot price” at the time of funding or withdrawal; 

1. Digital currency account holders may have indirect contact with a depository institution through the digital currency’s operating (or “pooled”) account.2

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Money Laundering in Digital Currenciesdigital gold currencies (DGCs)4 are by far the 

most popular type. Metal does not physically change hands in transactions; rather, the transfer is an accounting entry in which only the designation of ownership changes (similar to a stockholder whose shares represent a portion of a company’s holdings). According to the Global Digital Currency Association (GDCA), digital currency transactions account for billions of dollars each year—digital gold currency transactions alone increased from approximately $3 billion in 2004 to approximately $10 billion in 2006. 

The digital currency system is composed 

of issuers, digital currency exchangers (DCEs),

5 and the individuals (including 

merchants) who conduct transactions. Digital currency issuers frequently own or control a digital currency and are generally 

responsible for maintaining the precious metals used to back currencies or—in the case of currencies not backed by metals or national currencies—managing pooled bank accounts in which users’ funds are maintained until withdrawn. Issuers typically process digital currency transactions and maintain online records of users’ activities, including funding, spending, fees, and withdrawals. Digital currency exchangers (DCEs) facilitate funding of and withdrawals from digital currency accounts as well as conversion of one digital currency to another. Such exchangers and issuers are usually independent entities; however, an issuer may have a corporate affiliation with one particular DCE. Many DCEs claim to accept any national currency (U.S. dollars, euros, yen, etc.) in exchange for 

digital currencies, as well as a variety of other 

payment methods. Because digital currencies operate independently, payments issued by a specific digital currency can be accepted only by merchants or individuals who accept that digital currency, unless the payment is first converted to the appropriate digital currency through a DCE. 

Substantiation

Digital currencies allow account holders 

to electronically manipulate funds similarly to other types of funds transfer services. Digital currency account holders can move funds internationally in a manner that approximates money transfers or traditional wire transfers. The ability to conduct transactions in digital currencies is constantly available, making digital currencies more convenient than other methods of funds transfer, which may be limited by normal business hours and international time zones. Additionally, digital currency transactions can be conducted from any location or device with Internet access. Some issuers also accommodate mobile payments6 through web-enabled phones. Digital currencies are generally easy to use, and transactions conducted in these currencies are instantaneous and irreversible. Because most digital currencies are denominated into internationally recognized weights of precious metals, inconveniences traditionally associated with international financial transactions, such as calculating international exchange rates for another nation’s currency, are eliminated. A digital currency account can function as a merchant account, allowing a digital currency account holder to function 

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Product No. 2008-R0709-003 National Drug Intelligence Centeras a front or shell company.7 DCEs that are 

automated allow individuals to execute multiple currency-to-currency exchanges in a short period of time and can be exploited to provide an ideal layering mechanism for funds placed into a digital currency account. 

Regulatory interpretations and jurisdictional inconsistencies affect the operations of 

domestic and international digital currency programs that are accessible in the United States. Many digital currency programs in the United States believe that they are not subject to any existing federal or state regulatory structure. This issue is currently being litigated in federal court. Programs with components (servers, bank accounts, corporate offices, etc.) located outside the United States are not subject to U.S. regulations, yet those programs can be accessed within the United States. Issuers and DCEs frequently locate components in international and offshore jurisdictions; this practice enables them to avoid U.S. regulatory oversight and complicates prosecutions.

Anonymity is a heavily marketed characteristic of the digital currency industry.

Because digital currency accounts are obtained online and are not subject to the customer identification procedures associated with obtaining a traditional bank account, they often can be opened and funded anonymously.Many digital currency web sites advertise “full anonymity” for transactions. Some issuers require identification, but because users open digital currency accounts online, documents 

are generally faxed or scanned to the issuer and can be easily altered or falsified. Anonymity continues during the digital currency account funding process, again without faceto-face interaction. Individuals can fund digital currency accounts by making cash deposits directly to an exchanger’s bank account.8Many DCEs maintain bank accounts in several countries to facilitate cash deposits in various national currencies. Industrywide, exchangers also accept wire transfers, postal money orders, and a variety of other payment types, some of which may make it difficult to determine the source of funds. Illicit users further attempt to conceal their identities by continually opening new digital currency accounts, as often as after each transaction. Digital currency accounts can also be funded with varying degrees of anonymity by mail and over the Internet, using electronic money orders (EMOs), checks, and online banking transfers. Some issuers allow individuals to redeem digital currency account balances in actual precious metals; launderers looking to conduct business in precious metals could exploit digital currencies to acquire them without the paper trail created by the commodities market. Many exchangers will convert digital currency balances into anonymous prepaid (stored value) cards9 that can be used to withdraw funds by various methods, including at worldwide automated teller machines (ATMs). Digital currencies also may be withdrawn through worldwide wire transfers, mailing third-party 

7. Front and shell companies are used to launder money when illicit funds, represented as the proceeds of legitimate 

business transactions, are deposited to the companies’ accounts. Front companies are legally incorporated busi

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Money Laundering in Digital Currencieschecks to anyone whom the account holder designates, or a variety of other methods.

Various technologies can increase the utility of digital currencies for money laundering by providing additional anonymity and 

networking abilities. Because digital currency transactions are conducted over the Internet, they can be traced back to individuals’ computers;10 however, anonymizing proxy servers and anonymity networks11 protect individuals’ identities by obscuring the unique IP (Internet Protocol) address as well as the individuals’ true locations. Furthermore, mobile payments conducted from anonymous prepaid cellular devices, such as web-enabled phones, may be impossible to trace to an individual. Such portable devices that provide Internet access enable transfers of digital currency; afterward, they can be destroyed, easily and inexpensively, to prevent forensic analysis. Digital currency account holders also may use public Internet terminals or even “hijacked” wireless Internet connections to access their digital currency accounts, causing transactions to appear to originate with the unsuspecting Internet subscriber. Users of digital currency may also use encrypted chat rooms12 to conceal communications between individuals, making law enforcement scrutiny more difficult. 

Because digital currency is increasingly 

misused to purchase drugs and other illicit materials that are sold online, the proceeds of that activity are essentially prelaundered.13Payment in digital currencies makes it easier for traffickers to launder funds that no longer need to be placed into the traditional financial system. Payment can be immediately forwarded to an international digital currency account, perhaps in payment to the original source of supply, or further layered through multiple digital currency accounts and exchangers until reintegrated into the legitimate economy. Online illicit drug sales are now being conducted on bulletin boards, on blogs, and in encrypted chat rooms, and sellers are increasingly demanding payment in digital currencies, specifically DGCs. Additionally, Operation Raw Deal, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation initiated in November 2006, indicates that several Chinese raw materials manufacturers, which supply large-scale methamphetamine laboratories in the United States and Canada, accept payment in DGCs for drugs, precursor materials, and conversion kits for manufacturing finished products. The targeted companies are responsible for mass manufacturing and distributing anabolic steroid raw materials, human growth hormone (HGH), and certain other prescription and counterfeit drugs illegally entering the United States.

10. The origins of Internet activity can often be identified using IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. Each computer on 

a network, including the Internet, must be uniquely identified by an IP address in order to receive information, 

such as web pages, requested from remote servers. These servers, including digital currency servers, track and record users’ IP addresses. 

11. Anonymizing proxy servers and anonymity networks are designed to prevent identification of Internet users’ IP 

addresses. Such proxy servers and networks redirect users’ activities so that they appear to originate from a proxy 

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Product No. 2008-R0709-003 National Drug Intelligence Center

Law Enforcement Case Examples

E-Gold IndictedOn April 27, 2007, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted two companies operating a digital currency business and their owners. The indictment charges E-Gold Ltd., Gold and Silver Reserve, Inc., and their owners with one count each of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money 

transmitting business, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business under federal law, and one count of money transmission without a license under D.C. law. According to the indictment, persons seeking to use the alternative payment system E-Gold were only required to provide a valid e-mail address to open an E-Gold account—no other contact information was verified. The indictment is the result of a 21⁄2-year investigation by the U.S. Secret Service with cooperation among investigators, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other state and local law enforcement agencies. According to Jeffrey A. Taylor, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, “The defendants operated a sophisticated and widespread international money remitting business, unsupervised and unregulated by any entity in the world, which allowed for anonymous transfers of value at a click of a mouse. Not surprisingly, criminals of every stripe gravitated to E-Gold as a place to move their money with impunity.”

Source: U.S. Department of Justice.The Shadowcrew RingOn June 29, 2006, Andrew Montovani was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison for cofoundingShadowcrew.com, an international online discussion forum with more than 4,000 members, many of whom specialized in identity theft and fraud. Shadowcrew members sent and received payments for goods and criminal services 

through digital currencies. One indicted member, Omar Dhanani, operated an illegal currency exchange, providing members a money laundering service in digital gold by anonymously converting their illicit cash. Dhanani stated that Shadowcrew members used digital gold in order to avoid traditional banking systems. A yearlong investigation by the U.S. Secret Service led to the October 2004 arrest of 21 individuals in the United States, with several other arrests in foreign countries.

Source: U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey.Western Express International Currency Exchange CompanyOn February 22, 2006, Vadim Vassilenko, Yelena Barysheva, and Alexey Baryshev were indicted by the state of 

New York for operating an illegal check-cashing and money transmittal business from 2002 through 2005. Their company, Western Express International, acted as a currency exchanger, knowingly exchanging criminal proceeds for digital currencies. Through its web sites, Western Express actively solicited overseas clients in eastern Europe, Russia, and the Ukraine to operate illegally in the United States. Clients using fictitious, often multiple identities 

committed a variety of cyber crimes, such as reshipping, phishing, spoofing, and spamming. Items purchased with stolen credit card numbers were resold for digital gold, which was further laundered through Western Express. A total of $25 million flowed through the company’s bank accounts over the 4-year period, in violation of New York banking regulations. 

Source: New York County District Attorney’s Office, Manhattan.GoldAge Currency Exchange CompanyOn July 27, 2006, Arthur Budovsky and Vladimir Kats were indicted by the state of New York on charges of operating an illegal money transmittal business, GoldAge Inc., from their Brooklyn apartments. The defendants had trans

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Money Laundering in Digital Currencies

Some digital currency issuers offer

liberal—or even no—limits on transactions, funding amounts, and total account balances, allowing drug traffickers to more easily launder large sums with fewer transactions. Digital currency issuers who impose no limits on total value, funding, and transactions are ideal for large-scale drug trafficking networks and money laundering operations; such financial services make it easier and safer to launder larger amounts of money using fewer transactions. 

Federal officials have acknowledged the 

need to close the regulatory loophole that exists in relation to digital currencies. Despite industry assertions that digital currencies are not subject to regulation, as well as the formation of several trade associations and consortiums attempting to demonstrate industry self-regulation, U.S. Government entities are exploring the application of consistent federal regulation over the digital currency industry—which promotes itself as unregulated and anonymous. Additionally, because the value of digital currency accounts changes with the market performance of the backing commodity, any profits earned (capital gains) during the withdrawal of digital currency accounts may not get reported to the IRS unless the digital currency account holder decides to declare the amount voluntarily.

Outlook

Drug traffickers will increasingly rely 

upon the digital currency industry to launder and move funds because it enables standardized international financial transactions and operates largely outside the regulatory requirements of the traditional banking system. The ability of individuals and businesses to conduct complex, immediate, and irreversible international transactions with very little financial transparency greatly benefits drug traffickers and other criminals. 

U.S. regulatory action alone will not be 

sufficient to suppress the money laundering threat posed by digital currencies. Even if clear and consistent regulatory measures are imposed, digital currency services established in foreign and offshore jurisdictions—which are not subject to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)14—can be used to conduct transactions in the United States. Limited international oversight of this expanding financial service is possible through a recommendation of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).15 The 

FATF has publicly stated the need to monitor the growth of this industry and implement anti-money laundering controls; however, FATF recommendations will have little effect on nonmember countries. It would be nearly impossible to legislate regulatory controls that would allow the U.S. government to prevent completely foreign-based digital currencies from being used in the United States, because these services are available through the Internet. 

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Product No. 2008-R0709-003 National Drug Intelligence CenterSourcesLocal, State, and RegionalNew York County District Attorney’s Office, ManhattanSan Diego Law Enforcement Coordination CenterState of New JerseyFederalCentral Intelligence Agency

Directorate of Science and Technology

Foreign Broadcast Information Service

The Federal Reserve BankU.S. Courts

U.S. District Court

District of New Jersey

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Secret Service

U.S. Department of Justice

Criminal Division

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force

Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys Office

District of New Jersey

Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Department of StateU.S. Department of the Treasury

Financial Crimes Enforcement NetworkInternal Revenue Service

U.S. House of Representatives

House Committee on Banking and Financial Services

Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy

U.S. Postal Inspection Service

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Money Laundering in Digital CurrenciesInternational Organization for Standardization The World BankWorld Gold CouncilOtherA1 Guide to Gold InvestmentsAlert Global MediaAmerican ChronicleBerkeley Journal of International LawBusinessWeek magazineCaslon AnalyticsCato InstituteComputing magazineDigital Gold Currency Standards ConsortiumDigital Money World.comElectronic Currency Merchants AssociationEscape Artist Digital Currencies IndexFinancial Cryptography.comFinancial Times magazineFree Market Monetary Education AssociationGlobal Digital Currency AssociationGlobal Investor magazineGold Barter HoldingsGold Currencies.comGoldDirectory.comGold Economy MagazineThe Gold InstituteGoldMoney Bill

org

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Product No. 2008-R0709-003 National Drug Intelligence CenterSt. Petersburg TimesTechwack.comUniversity of Texas at Austin 

Graduate School of Business

Center for Research in Electronic Commerce 

U.S. News and World ReportVirtual School.eduWifive Investment Corporation S.A.Wired magazine

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Money Laundering in Digital Currencies

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Money Laundering in Digital Currencies

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