Europol’s Virtual Currencies Conference 2018, a prominent law enforcement and cryptocurrency event, welcomed over 300 participants from 40 European countries. ETHNews spoke exclusively with cryptocurrency exchanges in the US and Europe for their take on the event.
The 5th Virtual Currencies Conference, organized by Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, was held last week in The Hague to discuss the legitimate use of cryptocurrencies as well as how to combat their use in cybercrime and money laundering.
This year, as in previous years, the conference attendees were a mix of law enforcers, public prosecutors, cryptocurrency experts, exchange executives, and blockchain company representatives. The conference also featured operational case studies, such as tracking cybercrime suspects and exploring malicious cryptocurrency mining. For their part, attendees discussed the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies for trading, investment, and payment.
ETHNews spoke with OKCoin, owners of the OKEx token trading platform and soon-to-be-launched OKCoin USA, and France-based Coinhouse to find out more about the event, the impact on cryptocurrency exchanges, and what the future might hold.
Regulatory Respect and Compliance
ETHNews asked if the conference had inspired the attendees to make any changes in their businesses. "A big part of the Coinhouse brand is regulatory respect and a willingness to take an active role in helping inform the regulatory environment in which it operates," said Brian O'Hagan, marketing manager for the online exchange.
O'Hagan told us that compliance has been an active area for the company for the past two years and that there are now six full-time employees on the Coinhouse compliance team.
"This conference reinforced our vision that we should not compromise on compliance and security," said O'Hagan.
Compliance is also important to Tim Byun, CEO of OKCoin USA Inc.
