Laundering of criminal proceeds through transactions with virtual currencies: a new threat to economic security

The scientific article is devoted to certain aspects of legal (primarily criminal law) evaluation and countermeasures against dangerous practices of using virtual currencies for legalization of property obtained through criminal means. The basis of the author's research is an interdisciplinary approach to scientific knowledge, with the active use of international and separately foreign experience in countering the legalization of criminal income by using transactions with cryptocurrencies. The authors express a position, referring to specific examples of large-scale "financial-virtual" abuses, about the need for Ukraine to develop its own clear action plan regarding the legal regulation of the circulation of virtual assets, in particular by implementing effective national mechanisms to prevent (or at least reduce) the practice of laundering "dirty” funds taking into account the immediate threats to the financial system of Ukraine from the actions of a country that carries out armed aggression against our state. It is also emphasized that in criminal law science there is a plurality of approaches to determining legalization of criminal proceeds, because this type of illegal behavior is a complex phenomenon (crime, action, process, technology, stage, method and procedure, type of business activity, etc.). With reference to the scientifically and practically established approach to distinguish three main stages in the laundering of criminal proceeds (location, concealment and integration), the position is argued that these stages cannot be equally applied to legalization schemes combined with the use of fiat or virtual currencies. In the conclusions part of the article, it is emphasized that Ukraine, being integrated into the world economic community, must not only comply with special international standards, but also consider own priorities for the development of the national legal system and the current socio­economic situation in the country.