Responses to Illicit Trade – Exploring Illicit Trades with a Focus on Crypto Assets

On September 25th and 26th, the Cost Action GLITSS (Working Group 3 – Responses to Illicit Trade) hosted an engaging workshop at ESC UNIL – École des sciences criminelles, focused on Exploring Illicit Trades with a Focus on Crypto Assets.

The workshop shed light on how crypto assets are being exploited by criminals and organized groups, particularly for money laundering. However, existing scientific evidence shows that while crypto assets are not yet broadly used, they are primarily exploited by offenders engaged in crypto-related crimes like ransomware, fraud, and the sale of drugs and other illegal items. The modus operandi for laundering tends to be quite basic. A key challenge we identified is the lack of available data, which continues to limit in-depth research in this field.

Special thanks to ESC UNIL – École des sciences criminelles,  GLITSS, and COST Action for the support.