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The UK Inland Revenue announced yesterday the seizure of three digital artworks sold as NFTs. This new technology resulting from the blockchain » is it a new vector for fraud and money laundering?
This is what the US Treasury fears. In a note published last week, he warns once morest the risks of money laundering induced by the new NFT market, or non-fungible or non-interchangeable, that is to say unique, token.
The NFT is a coded certificate of ownership that guarantees the authenticity of a digital object, it can be a work of art but also collectible images of footballers or video game accessories.
The NFT is considered tamper-proof and traceable. This booming market might facilitate the financing of terrorism and more generally money laundering, according to American experts.
How is NFT conducive to money laundering?
The sale of an NFT takes place on the internet, in one click, free of charge, and without third parties, it is to the advantage of the author, but it also means that there is no control. And no logistics either, since unlike a painting that must be transported and kept, an NFT by nature virtual can change ownership from one country to another in a few seconds.
The ease of exchange is conducive to manipulation. Especially since the sellers and buyers remain anonymous, since they carry out the transaction via a cryptocurrency account where their identity is not necessarily mentioned.
These loopholes in the NFT market are already being exploited by connoisseurs
Not necessarily to launder money but to increase the rating of an NFT. The same work can be exchanged several times on a platform between two accounts, and these accounts can also be held by the same and unique person.
A practice totally prohibited in conventional financial markets. The first hundred sales in value for the month of January were made by regarding fifteen accounts, so there is market inflation very well controlled by a handful of speculators.
There are also anecdotal and strange transactions like the one reported by our colleagues from New York Times : Melania Trump Listed One Of Her NFT Portraits For Charity And It Was Bought via her own account, as if the former first lady was seeking to retain ownership.
Do we already have an idea of the amount of the fraud?
According to the company Chainalysis, which specializes in tracking cryptocurrency data, this remains minor. In a market estimated to be worth more than $44 billion in 2021, fraud peaked at $1.4 million in the last quarter of the year. Market manipulation is the most common form of fraud, but it is not money laundering.
On the other hand, in the wider world of cryptocurrencies, the phenomenon exploded last year. Plus 30% by volume. This is evidenced by another news item that has made the headlines of financial crime. A couple of young New Yorkers have been arrested trying to convert Bitcoin stolen five years ago into currency. He might thus have pocketed a booty of 4 billion 500 million dollars. We are already talking regarding the Bonnie and Clyde of cryptocurrencies.
► IN BRIEF
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