First national OSCE training courses in Moldova on cryptocurrency risks, investigations and supervision conclude

With the growing security risks in crypto and real-world economies, the OSCE organized from 20 to 25 March in Chisinau its first national training courses for Moldova on money laundering related to virtual assets.

“Money laundering through virtual assets is a growing regional security risk. As crypto-economies and real-world financial markets become more and more interconnected, state authorities have to intervene more often to stay ahead of risks like money laundering. And Moldova is no exception with its developing crypto and crypto-mining industry,” said Kurban Babayev, Associate Anti-corruption Officer in the OSCE’s Office of the Co-ordinator for Economic and Environmental affairs.

Course participants comprised officials from state financial supervisory agencies and law enforcement. They learned about assessment, investigation and supervision methods, risks associated with cryptocurrencies, criminal schemes, as well as tools for tracing different coins and tokens. They also reviewed case studies, compliance of virtual assets service providers (VASP), and tools for online supervision and investigations.

The training course is part of an OSCE-led extra-budgetary project on innovative policy solutions to mitigate money-laundering risks of virtual assets. The project is designed to support the governments of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in building national authorities’ capacities to mitigate criminal risks related to virtual assets and cryptocurrencies. The project is funded by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Poland.