Tracing Crypto-Laundering Through the Sharing Economy

Abstract

This chapter examines the effectiveness of the Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies as a P3 initiative with a sharing economy model. The analysis is based on the claims presented in Europol documents and public statements of Europol executives that this initiative serves as a platform for knowledge exchange and building professional networks between public and private actors to tackle crypto-laundering. The chapter investigates the validity of these statements with the most prominent sharing economy concepts: low barrier accessibility, transaction cost and trust-building. The chapter employs each sharing economy concept on two beneficiaries of the platform: law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and non-governmental organizations. Based on Europol documents, an expert interview and participant observation of the 5th Global Cryptocurrency Conference, the chapter’s core argument is that these cryptocurrency conferences can be categorized as a sharing economy platform. They reduce the transaction cost for public and private actors to share knowledge about the latest trends and threats about crypto-laundering and reduce transaction costs for networking. However, co-founders should consider integrating robust trust-building mechanisms that allow low barrier entry to the conference, which will facilitate more inclusive and optimized P3.