The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the iconic red-uniformed Canadian federal police organization, is looking into how they can prevent and solve crimes involving Bitcoin.
According to Canadian news outlet Global News, who accessed communications from the RCMP’s technological crime division to FINTRAC under an Access to Information Act request, the RCMP has created a project “in relation to Bitcoins and their manipulation/tracking etc.” FINTRAC is Canada’s financial regulator, the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre.
The email was sent in May 2013, meaning the RCMP’s plans have likely moved forward since then.
An RCMP representative told Global that the initiative was designed to “identify investigative methodology, tools and techniques to prevent and solve crimes involving crypto currencies, such as Bitcoin.”
Bitcoin & Law In Canada
The Bitcoin economy in Canada has been developing more quickly than in some other jurisdictions, partially as a result of the lack of regulation on it. In fact, a study by a Montreal-based research group concluded that Canada is second only to the United States for investing in Bitcoin.
The Canadian government has, however, recently instituted new regulations on Bitcoin. Most Canadian Bitcoiners aren’t concerned, though. QuadrigaCX CEO Gerald Cotten wrote in an article for The CoinFront that “the impact that these new laws will have on the Canadian exchange industry will likely be negligible.” After all, most of the businesses affected by the new regulations were already playing by these rules in anticipation of a law like this eventually coming into play.
But not everyone is so dismissive. The Bitcoin Foundation of Canada expressed their belief that there alre already enough laws in Canada which apply to monetary regulation and criminal prosecution that can be applied to Bitcoin as well.
The RCMP Is Investigating Bitcoin
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