TRM Labs

Welcome back to another Weekly Roundup. This week, the TRM team is attending and speaking at Singapore FinTech Festival — so you can be sure we’ll be sharing our key takeaways and highlights in coming editions! Here are the big stories our policy pros — Ari Redbord, Angela Ang, and Isabella Chase — have been tracking this week: 🇰🇷 Korea FIU survey: Crypto users up 21%, exchanges profit up 106% in 1H24 🇺🇸 2024 election results: What Trump's win and a Republican Congress could mean for crypto in the US 👮♂️ US authorities announce arrests and charges in $230 million crypto theft case 🇸🇬 Singapore announces initiatives to support commercialization of asset tokenization 🌏 A bridge too far? The BIS exits mBridge 🇵🇰 Abrupt turn: Pakistan moves to legalize crypto Let’s get into it 👇

🇩🇰 Last week in Copenhagen, the TRM team attended the Future of Financial Intelligence Sharing (#FFIS) workshop — hosted in conjunction with the Royal United Services Institute (Europe) — where we shared key insights on the importance of public-private partnerships to fight financial crime and fraud. Philip Lear also highlighted the impact of the new EU AML Regulation Article 75 (#AMLR75), and discussed the foundations of anti-money laundering collaborations in Denmark.

🇰🇷 TRM Labs is thrilled to announce our new partnership with CODE, aimed at helping Korean businesses and financial institutions improve their anti-money laundering (AML) programs and maintain compliance with Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Travel Rule. 🤝 This synergistic partnership between TRM and CODE will enable #crypto and #fintech businesses to engage with two of the world’s leading RegTech providers in the digital assets space — arming them with robust #blockchainintelligence and #compliance services to ensure the transactions they enable are conducted safely, efficiently, and compliantly. Learn more in this post 👉 https://hubs.la/Q02X9Q240

Want to hear about the most compelling legal issues that could define the #cryptocurrency space for years to come? 🗣️ On our latest episode of #TRMTalks, Ari Redbord sits down with #cryptolawyer Matt McGuire (Partner at Arktouros) to get his perspective on the key legal issues in the cryptoverse. Their discussion covers the gambit: sanctions, securities, consumer protection, anti-money laundering, privacy, security, and more. 🎧 Listen to the full episode, out now: https://lnkd.in/ejAkE8Vv

Over the past few years, the Royal Thai Police have built an exemplary investigative unit — the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) — to disrupt all manner of crypto-facilitated cybercrimes, including money laundering and #pigbutchering. 👮 “Today, blockchain technology is integral to CCIB's operations. It allows us to trace and analyze cryptocurrency transactions with precision, helping us uncover and dismantle criminal networks that utilize digital assets,” said Thanatus Kangruambutr (Deputy Superintendent of Intelligence Analysis and Special Tools Sub-Division, Royal Thai Police). “Over time, we've transformed our approach from reactive to proactive, becoming adept at using blockchain technology not just to trace illicit activities, but to anticipate and prevent them.” Learn how the Royal Thai Police leverages TRM in their investigations, the role of #blockchainintelligence in supporting legal process, and how Kangruambutr and his team established a center of excellence for #crypto investigations in Thailand. Watch or read the story 👉 https://hubs.ly/Q02X5q2p0

🇸🇬 Singapore published its national AML strategy last week. In a joint release, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Ministry of Home Affairs Singapore and Ministry of Finance (Singapore) said that the strategy was “part of continuing efforts to maintain the effectiveness of [Singapore’s] AML framework.” The strategy is closely aligned with the national money laundering risk assessment released in June, as well as the recently published recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee recommendations — formed to review Singapore’s #AML framework following last year’s billion dollar money laundering crackdown. The strategy has three key pillars — prevent, detect, and enforce — executed along the three building blocks of (1) legal and regulatory framework, (2) whole of society collaboration and coordination, and (3) international cooperation. For the #crypto (aka digital payment token) sector, the strategy document highlights the “robust and risk-based supervisory frameworks” in place, as well as the public-private partnerships formed to promote best practices and “explore the use of data analytics to combat financial crime.” The crypto sector had been identified as one of the higher risk sectors in the national risk assessment, alongside banks, payment institutions, corporate service providers, and others. 👉 The TRM team (Angela Ang, Ari Redbord, Elias Kokaly and Adriel Wong) is at the Singapore FinTech Festival! Reach out to connect or join the TRM Running Club 👟.

Late last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned leaders of La Linea, a violent Mexican drug cartel. Atlantic Council detailed this action, as well as how partnerships between Chinese money laundering organizations and Mexican cartels continue to make it challenging for US law enforcement agencies to trace the movement of money involved in the illicit drug — namely, fentanyl — trade. Check out the Atlantic Council’s post to learn how the illicit drug supply chain works (and how financial #sanctions can disrupt it), and to dig into TRM’s research on how Chinese precursor drug manufacturers are leveraging #crypto in the #fentanyl trade. ➡️ https://hubs.ly/Q02WZq_Y0

🇯🇵 Last week, the TRM team visited Osaka and Tokyo to unpack the latest trends in #blockchainintelligence with Japanese law enforcement and regulators. As one of the first countries to adopt crypto, Japan continues to be a leader in #crypto regulation and combatting crypto-facilitated crime. We enjoyed exchanging insights and engaging in thoughtful conversations with our Japanese partners and clients, and look forward to being back soon!

🎙️ Hear from #cryptolawyer Matt McGuire (partner at Arktouros) when he joins Ari Redbord on #TRMTalks this week. They cover it all: From sanctions to securities, consumer protection to anti-money laundering, and the legal issues that could define the cryptocurrency space for years to come. This latest episode drops Wednesday! Be sure to follow TRM Talks on Spotify to be the first to tune in ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eGZX-Wdf

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