Virtual currency has become a new form of payment accepted worldwide and allows users to make payments directly, without resorting to third-party institutions and while maintaining anonymity. As a result, digital currencies are increasingly being used by criminals. Some have already started to use cryptocurrency for their illegal activities: buying and selling drugs, arms trafficking, illegal immigration transactions and other illicit acts. The illicit circulation of cryptocurrencies has created a complex legal situation that poses significant challenges for criminal law. On the one hand, the growing threat of crime is associated with digital currencies and the increasing need to regulate their circulation. Compliance requirements will be analyzed to ensure that cryptocurrency transactions are not facilitated by financial institutions, thereby increasing the potential for prosecution by the authorities. To prevent money laundering schemes and other illegal activities, regulation needs to be comprehensive and put in place to ensure that all reporting entities identify suspicious transactions involving cryptocurrencies. Law enforcement agencies have difficulty combating cryptocurrency-related crimes because they do not have a general power to freeze the accounts or assets of Internet users without a court order. This difficult situation requires individual states to formulate their laws to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing through cryptocurrencies and more effectively fight cybercrime.

criminal law, virtual currency, cryptography, financial transaction.