Webinar on preventing illegal use of cryptocurrency: Blockchain forensics, due diligence & regulation

Anirudh Rastogi, Managing Partner at Ikigai Law was in conversation with Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO at Merkle Science on a webinar on 11 May 2020. Merkle, a Singapore-based company, is a pioneer in blockchain forensics and due diligence tools used by law enforcement agencies, regulators, crypto-exchanges, banks and funds to monitor and mitigate AML/CFT risk. The entire conversation is available here.

Given his work, Mriganka gets to engage with regulators and the industry across jurisdictions and learn about their approach to AML/CFT and other risks associated with the crypto-ecosystem. In this conversation, he dives into regulatory trends and how different regulators are engaging with the industry; timelines within which he expects regulators to begin implementing licensing frameworks; and how certain banks are averse to servicing the crypto-industry while others, mostly crypto-focussed challenger banks are able to leverage their understanding of the industry and tech to tap into this emerging sector.    

Key aspects touched upon by the speakers are:

1. An overview of blockchain forensics and due diligence tools and the science behind them (2:36)
2. How crypto-regulations are evolving in various jurisdictions (10:50)
3. Typical time lines for an investigation (11:40)
4. Levels of automation in these tools and to what extent human intervention is necessary (12:32)
5. How banks are using due diligence tools and are banks comfortable servicing the crypto industry on account of such technologies? (14:30)
6. In what regions are banks taking a liberal approach to the crypto industry (19:52)
7. A discussion on crypto-focussed banks (21:40)
8. How do regulators work with Merkle Science (24:15)
9. Trends in regulatory approaches to the crypto-industry (25:22)
10. Timelines for implementation of regulatory/licensing frameworks across jurisdictions (28:40)
11. Trends in the African markets (30:05)
12. Trends in Estonia/Malta (31:26)
13. What is the future of blockchain forensics and due diligence (35:00)
14. How regulators are responding to the use of privacy coins (40:50)
15. How can regulators address risk of capital flight / cross-border transactions (46:50)
16. Predictions on regulation in India (49:44)
17. Regulatory environment in South East Asia (Malaysia and Singapore) (56:49).

Towards the end, Mriganka discusses why he decided to start Merkle Science and what other entrepreneurial opportunities does he see in the crypto-industry.

For more information, please feel free to reach out to us at contact@ikigailaw.com.