In September 2022 this course was also offered by UNIC as a Framework Partner of CEPOL, the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training of member states. The course was attended by 43 officers of law enforcement agencies of 23 member states and Switzerland and members of the European Justice Training Network.

The association of cryptocurrencies with criminal activity has attracted significant attention and scepticism worldwide, posing numerous threats as well as challenges for legislators, regulators, and law enforcement agencies. This course aims to provide law enforcement investigators, prosecutors, and other officials of the criminal justice system an introductory overview towards a) cryptocurrency-related financial crimes, such as money laundering, terrorist financing and fraudulent transactions, and b) the role of blockchain technology in the fight against those financial crimes.

By examining numerous case studies, focusing particularly on the (pseudo)anonymity of crypto payments, the difficulty in monitoring payment flows, and the unregulated nature of many cryptocurrency exchanges, the aim of this course is to explore the growing threat and the sophisticated techniques deployed by financial criminals. In doing so, law enforcement agents and criminal justice officials are expected to develop sufficient knowledge and working understanding of the alerting – and often complex – links between cryptocurrencies and crime, and to be able to formulate an appropriate modus operandi inside the developing crypto-forensic domain.

This course will guide the participants through the basic concepts, techniques and players of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing via cryptocurrencies. This course will also categorise criminal activities, present the most common challenges for criminal prosecutors and explore how blockchain digital proof may be admissible and have an evidential value before the Courts of Justice. In addition, the course will cover several guidelines and working protocols established by international organizations, including best practices on cryptocurrency related financial crime investigation.