European law authorities raise concerns over privacy coins, Layer-2 networks and crypto mixers
European law authorities raise concerns over privacy coins, Layer-2 networks and crypto mixers
The document highlights predominant gaps in law enforcement's ability to music and enhance illicit digital sources moved by privacy coins, layer-2 networks, and crypto mixers.Â
The EU Innovation Hub for Interior Security has launched its first comprehensive document on encryption, focusing a good deal on crypto-connected factors.
The document, a collaboration between Europol, Eurojust, and other EU agencies, delves into how cryptocurrencies are impacting law enforcement efforts.
It highlights the loads of gaps in law enforcement’s ability to music and enhance illicit digital sources moved by decentralized systems love privacy coins, layer-2 networks, and crypto mixers.
Crypto and Regulations Enforcement
Consistent with the document, cryptocurrencies, which depend heavily on public-non-public key cryptography, pose irregular challenges and alternatives for law enforcement.
The document outlines how cryptocurrencies are extra and extra mature for laundering criminal proceeds, complicating efforts to hint illicit funds. The upward push of technologies much like zero-files proofs (ZKP) and Layer-2 (L2) networks, which provide a preserve halt to privacy, could honest extra imprecise the origins and movements of those funds.
The document talked about that at the 2d, law enforcement can simplest enhance funds moved by custodial wallets â where users construct no longer retain their have non-public keys â by cooperating with exchanges and carrier suppliers to preserve halt crypto suspected of criminal command.
This cooperation is wanted, given the stringent person identification measures (know-your-customer, or KYC) mandated by anti-money laundering regulations. Nonetheless, illicit funds moved by decentralized wallets and addresses remain beyond the attain of law enforcement attributable to the enhanced privacy equipped by these technologies.
Technological Trends and Data Obfuscation
The document highlighted several advancements that complicate tracking crypto transactions. Privacy coins love Monero imprecise transaction details, presenting predominant tracing challenges despite being less standard than Bitcoin among criminals.
In the meantime, cryptocurrencies much like Speed and Litecoin provide no longer major encryption functions that give a preserve halt to transaction obfuscation. Mimblewimble, a protocol mature by Grin and Beam, hides transaction details and makes command of aggregate verification ways.
ZKPs, mature by currencies love Zcash and mixing services and products love Twister Cash, test transactions without revealing details, posing gigantic tracing challenges.
Moreover, L2 alternate options love the Lightning Community for Bitcoin originate fee channels that construct no longer broadcast all transactions to the blockchain, complicating law enforcement tracking efforts.
Future steps
The document successfully-known the paramount want for law enforcement to retain with technological dispositions and emphasized that fetch entry to to suspects’ non-public keys is predominant for overcoming encryption challenges.
The document also urged convey agencies to give a preserve halt to technical capabilities and foster closer collaboration with crypto exchanges and custodial pockets suppliers, that are very major for successfully tackling the misuse of digital sources for criminal functions.
The document known as for persevered learn into “person-controlled” encryption and its affect on digital forensics and decryption capabilities. It also highlighted quantum computing’s doubtless to revolutionize cryptographic protocols and talked about that EU funding schemes are wanted for supporting learn tasks to handle these challenges.
The document urged policymakers to prioritize funding to give a preserve halt to law enforcement’s ability to counteract the misuse of cryptocurrencies.
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Source credit : cryptoslate.com