The Japanese police agency said it received 669 reports of suspected money laundering using cryptocurrency. They have been since eight months to 2017.
According to Japan’s Nikkei Asia Review , the country’s National Police Agency (NPA) released a report on Thursday. It indicating that cases were reported from April to December last year.
Japan passed a bill in April last year that recognises bitcoin as a legal payment method. It also requires that cryptocurrency exchanges to be licensed. As a result, companies are being forced to report transactions suspected of being part of money laundering and drug trafficking. As it will result it will lead to tracking down on the use of cryptocurrency as a means to facilitate illegal financial activities.
Although the NPA did not disclose the exact criteria used by the exchanges to filter out suspicious transactions. But the data are part of a larger attempt by Japanese regulators to investigate crypto companies after the theft of more than $ 500 million in Coincheck NEM token at the end of January.
Japan still has 16 exchanges of cryptocurrency, including Coincheck, which have not yet been approved by the country’s financial body. Japan’s finance ministry said last week that it ordered the agency to conduct spot checks on these unlicensed platforms.
