Japan raises its game in fight against cryptocurrecy-related crime

Japan’s National Police Agency is planning to introduce new software in its efforts to track cryptocurrency transactions and crack down on the illegal use of digital assets.

Japanese police to adopt new software to trace crypto transactions in bid to clamp down on money laundering

The National Police Agency is to introduce special software next year to monitor the history of digital currency transactions in the country, according to NHK, the public broadcaster. The costs of the new software are expected to be met by a Y35m ($315,000) budget increase for the year.

Criminal activity

Following a rise in the amount of criminal activity associated with cryptocurrencies – including money laundering and tax evasion – police financial investigators around the globe are having to raise their game to keep up with the criminals.

Transactions recorded on blockchain, the technology that underpins the cryptocurrency sector, are difficult to trace given the decentralised and anonymous nature of the distributed ledger technology.

The software to be used by Japanese police can extract transaction data, visualise it from open records and show what crypto exchange operators used the currency for, according to NHKK.