The blockchain technology is seeing its days of glory because of its open to all ledger structure that transcends borders and renders many traditional financial schools either obsolete or has flipped them upside down. Technology has found its expression through cryptocurrency, the internet of things, in various domains such as education, healthcare, finance, and so on. All this boom and expansion of almost all the domains of society have highly benefitted from the open nature of the technology. But as any great tool has two kinds of uses, so is the case with the cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency’s Encrypted Nature Serving as a Veil for Terrorist Activities
Recently, the Home Affairs Minister of Australia, Peter Craig Dutton, warned how the potential of cryptocurrency is being misused in the hands of the terrorists. The encrypted nature of cryptocurrency and high privacy settings serve as a perfect recipe for the terrorists to get obscurity in the transactions. It is, unfortunately, becoming an excellent route for terrorist activities to fund illegal missions swiftly.
The privacy and encryption offered by the ledger-backed cryptocurrency is a great tool otherwise, but the very same becomes a warning is also a tool to exploit the freedom and bend the laws.
The Upcoming Counter-terror Conference in Melbourne
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There will be a counter-terror conference in Melbourne on the coming Thursday. There Dutton is planning to raise his concerns and bring attention to the matter. In his words,
The anonymity afforded by such technologies enables terrorist financiers to obfuscate their activities. […] The increasing use of digital and crypto-currencies, stored-value cards, online payment systems and crowd-funding platforms provide new channels through which terrorism may be financed.
The Dire Need to Stay Vigilant and Prepared
Mr. Dutton has urged every nation to stay updated and be ahead in the arena of finance measures, The terrorists, he says, are not only exploiting the latest ways which cryptocurrency and blockchain technology offers to fulfill their malicious missions but are also leaving no stone unturned by continuing with their regular fraudulent methods such as demanding ransom money, cheating masses with fraudulent spam emails, ponzi schemes, fake charities, blackmailing, hacking the sensitive personal information, and so on.
Joining Forces With Australia’s Private Lenders
As per reports, Dutton is planning on to call on Australia’s private lenders too. It will be done with the sole purpose of enforcing the combat against this challenge of cryptocurrency being misused in the terrorist activities. He also went ahead, saying that every country should be open in welcoming expertise and intelligence from other governments.
Charities and Non-profit Organizations May Need to Jump Extra Hops to Prove Authenticity
Further, he is also planning on to suggest that there is a need to tighten the number of hoops any charity or non-profit organizations have to jump to earn authenticity. He has decided so because charities and non-profit organizations have been a soft target or an easy way out for the terrorists to plummet the illegal funds across borders. These kinds of organizations have been a very popular choice among terrorists. He is planning to raise the following point at the counter-terror conference,
In many cases, not-for-profits are not even aware that they are being taken advantage of.
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He has also revealed that he will probe the measures to fight against the illegal activities from the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Reports tell that Mr. Dutton is planning to underline the work of AUSTRAC (Australia’s Anti-money Laundering Watchdog), during the upcoming Melbourne conference. On the other hand, plans are there to talk about the “Islamist extremism and far-right extremism,” and how it has been affecting the economy and security of not only Australia but all the countries of the world.
