RIYADH: Mexican cartels are believed to launder about $25 billion a year through Bitcoin, internet and e-commerce, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel are increasingly using small, online purchases of Bitcoin to avoid money-laundering controls, a separate report by the International Narcotics Control Board said.
The claims come in the same week as US President Joe Biden signed an executive order requiring the government to assess the risks and benefits of creating a central bank digital dollar, as well as other cryptocurrency issues.
Wide-ranging oversight of the cryptocurrency market, which surged past $3 trillion in November, is essential to ensure US national security, financial stability and US competitiveness, and stave off the growing threat of cyber crime, White House officials said.
The order is shortlisted, according to Blockchain Intelligence Group’s chief Lance Morginn, along with other industry executives, as they believe it replaces industry’s request for a more broad US embrace of crypto with more analysis and reporting, Reuters reported.
“We’re at a pivotal time in history where the world is watching how digital assets are being used in nation-building and how digital assets are creating transparency into financial transactions like never seen before,” Morginn said.
Bitcoin traded lower on March 11 at 10:07 am Saudi time — falling by 0.37 percent to $39,165, while Ether went up by 0.23 percent to $2,598.