U.S. Treasury warns of risk of NFT involvement in money laundering

On February 5, the U.S. Treasury Department warned in a research report published on Friday that NFTs could become a tool for money laundering in the high-value art market. The 40-page report, released under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2020, found some evidence that high-value artwork was involved in money laundering, but likely not involved in any terrorist financing. However, the document does suggest that NFTs could be used to facilitate more illicit trade in the art market. The report also states: “Emerging digital art markets, such as the use of non-fungible tokens NFTs, may introduce new risks, depending on structure and market incentives.”