Cryptocurrencies and Fundamental Rights

The revolution of cryptocurrencies raises the concern for new legal proceedings to address the security and crimes associated with the advancing technology. Specifically, it is important to examine anti-money laundering and crime prevention procedures as a way to regulate cryptocurrencies. This article first discusses what fundamental rights are important to maintain with cryptocurrencies, like the ability to have actions that are not interfered by the state. While KYC systems are usually used to prevent money laundering, this is not plausible for a cryptocurrency like bitcoin because there is no need to physically smuggle a currency across borders and it is fairly easy to transfer the currency seamlessly and without a trace. That being said, governments could restrict access to cryptocurrency software to try and regulate the flow of currency. Because of the decentralization of cryptocurrencies, most regulation measures require prevention of access, like a ‘gatekeeper’, rather than post-use regulation. That being said, these regulations have to be used sparingly as to not violate the fundamental rights of an individual to access the internet and send and receive information. This article concludes by saying that future research is needed into other potential preventative measures to protect cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency users.