When Organised Crime Turns to Cryptocurrency: the Compatibility of Italian Patrimonial Preventive Measures with Cryptocurrency
Abstract
Organised crime has always adapted to different markets from which to profit. Today, one such market is that of cryptocurrency. Concurrently, EU countries have developed an interest in the Italian antimafia legal system, effective pillars of which include patrimonial preventive measures of confiscation and sequestration. But what happens if the assets to preventively confiscate are cryptocurrencies? This paper assesses whether the measures can be considered equally effective in the context of cryptocurrency. Despite the measures having existed for more than forty years, the virtual nature of cryptocurrency has been proven to not comprise an obstacle per se. However, in practice it has been argued that cryptocurrency as the object of the measures is incompatible with the existing law, the pseudo-anonymity of the blockchain, and mixing services. Some reflections and conclusions as to how these incompatibilities might be overcome are provided, aimed especially at those European legislators who are considering transposing Italian antimafia law to their jurisdictions.
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