EU's Top Cop Launches Digital Currency Working Group

Europol, the European Union's top law enforcement agency, has co-founded a new working group dedicated to digital currencies.

The initiative is being co-led by Interpol, the intergovernmental organization focused on law enforcement issues, and the Basel Institute on Governance, a non-profit group focused on financial crimes in the public and private sectors.

The working group, according to an announcement last week, will involve the organization of collaborative workshops and a global network comprised of subject matter experts.

Europol said in a statement:

"Internet technologies become continuously more advanced, and so do the ways in which criminals utilize them for their illicit and illegal activities. Among these technologies, digital currencies are already transforming the criminal underworld."

Europol and Interpol have spent much of the last year collaborating on digital currency issues, a partnership that has seen the two groups organize conferences and training sessions directed at global law enforcement representatives.

More recently, Europol inked a deal with blockchain startup Chainalysis in a bid to expand its capacity for tracking digital currency transactions.