A new survey shows financial institutions and government departments see cryptocurrency a risky investment as it is linked with illicit activities.

566 Responses from Different Sectors across the Globe

The UK-based security firm The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has conducted a survey about cryptocurrency in partnership with the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). The survey has collected a total of 566 responses from financial institutions, government departments, cryptocurrency firms, financial regulators, and other private financial intelligence units.

According to the survey’s key findings:

“An overwhelming majority of respondents were concerned about the links between cryptocurrency and criminal activity. However, where other respondents ranked illicit purposes highly, the cryptocurrency industry ranked illicit purposes as the least common use.”

Executive Director of ACAMS, Rick Mcdonell, said that the survey gives a “unique global insight into how respondents from governments, financial institutions, and the crypto industry itself think about cryptocurrency: it’s potential, and it’s risks. Their views are well worth noting as policy making and regulatory enforcement continue to take shape around the world”

Seventy percent of people from government institutions and the cryptocurrency industry believe that cryptocurrency is widely used on the dark web and in different illicit activities such as money laundering.

The survey also unveils officials from governments to declare digital assets risky to use while crypto industry members claim they have “knowledge, skills, and tools” to face such risks related to digital assets.

“The crypto industry appears to have a great amount of confidence in their own abilities to counter and detect risk, whereas the government doesn’t have nearly as much faith. Bridging this gap is essential, as all sectors agree that the use of cryptocurrency is on the rise, but we know there’s no clear consensus on domestic regulatory action. This risks opening the door to illicit activities,” survey’s co-author Kayla Izenman said.

Cryptocurrency’s Future in the Next Five Years

An interesting thing is that Asian financial institutions have favored cryptocurrency while financial institutions in Europe and North American have shown less sympathy for digital assets.

However, all respondents think that cryptocurrency will be used in day-to-day payments in the next five years.