Bruno Le Maire, the Finance Minister of France, has said that some cryptocurrencies are associated with purchasing drugs and weapons in addition to being used for money laundering.
It has been reported that Le Maire, who once said Facebook’s Libra token would risk the “monetary sovereignty of states,” is continuing his criticism of cryptocurrencies.
Bruno Le Maire has called for additional regulatory oversight of cryptocurrencies, in particular Facebook’s Libra token https://t.co/OAJa4rkCvk — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) October 19, 2020
However, he posted on Twitter that he does not “question the reliability and traceability of all blockchain technology.”
Cher @cyrilpaglino, nous ne remettons pas en cause la fiabilité et la traçabilité de toutes les technologies de la blockchain. Mais certaines cryptomonnaies ont pu être utilisées pour faciliter des transactions frauduleuses (drogue, armes, blanchiment) de manière anonyme. Nuance. https://t.co/m2YFNa9ipd — Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) October 19, 2020
Le Maire was responding to Cyril Paglino, a General Partner in crypto fund Starchain Capital, who said blockchain transactions had “no interest in terrorists.”
Thus, Paglino referenced the recent FinCEN leak, which showed that many banks were in fact enabling money laundering.
Source: Cointelegraph