The SBU or Sluzhba Bezpeky Ukrayiny is the military-based securities regulatory authority for Ukraine. The regulatory agency is recently in the process of cracking down on the illegal financial activities in the region. One important part of this investigation is the crypto exchange platforms that are unregulated and working underground.
After a detailed investigation, the SBU has opted to shut down several crypto exchanges in the region operating since the start of the current year. In a public statement issued by the SBU authorities last Wednesday, the financial regulator briefed that there is a massive covert network of cryptocurrency exchanges that is working to facilitate crime syndicates and enable white-collar crimes like money laundering.
Crackdown on Anonymous Financial Account Holders
Many people advocate for the right to remain anonymous even when they are conducting financial transactions online. Several cryptocurrency exchange platforms have made this possible. The recent public briefing by SBU indicates that the network of underground crypto trading platforms was located in Kyiv. This is the capital of Ukraine. The SBU also found that $1.1 million illegal transaction records were conducted on this network.
The financial regulators around the world are taking up an issue with unverified crypto transactions. There is no way of telling who is behind the said account and what their motives for keeping their real identity under are the disguise. The Security Services of Ukraine also called out the illegally operating crypto exchanges to act as an enabler of the illegal financial activities in the region.
The first incident took place when the agency investigators discovered a warehouse. The owner of the warehouse was using play Station 4 machinery and stolen energy resources to run a crypto mining farm. Further investigation of the incident unveiled the connection with e-wallets based in Russia.
These e-wallets were connected to platforms like Qiwi, Webmoney, Yandex, and others. A local media outlet of Ukraine, Delo, uncovered that these farms are not mining cryptocurrencies, but they are trying to generate in-game coins and tokens. The parliament of the East European country is in the process of introducing a new bill that seeks to introduce stringent crypto regulations in the region. There is no chance of Ukraine opting to accept Bitcoin or any other altcoin as a legal tender for the time being.