AUSTRAC looks to protect fund transfers through blockchain technology

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The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has announced that they will be using the blockchain technology to help with automated fund transfers. According to a report, AUSTRAC is working in conjunction with the Swinburne University of Technology to build a prototype that will be able to interconnect a large number of different types of businesses, including banks and casinos.

The plan was actually hatched last December when both the University and AUSTRAC released a proof of concept detailing exactly what the prototype would look like. In April of last year, AUSTRAC had implemented a set of new laws specifically geared towards digital currency exchange. These laws required providers to adopt and maintain the identity of those involved in trading, with the hope that it would greatly reduce, if not curtail completely money laundering and terrorist operations that were being funded through these accounts.

Blockchain technology has seemingly become the solution for many involved in the trade and sale of cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month it was announced that San Francisco-based Coinbase had purchased Neutrino, a company that had developed new blockchain technology that was expected to protect the transaction accounts of those trading digital currency through their platform.

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corporation has included blockchain technology in their new commercial network as well. They are hoping that the implementation of this technology will increase transaction rates from 2500 per second to as many as 100,000 per second by the end of the year.

While transfer rates and security are important concerns in the digital currency world, many government agencies are becoming leery of hackers, criminal enterprises, and terrorists using cryptocurrencies as a means to circumvent banks and other financial institutions to conduct business. That fear is misplaced though, as blockchain technology allows government authorities to clearly track transactions and identify criminal activity.

The hope is the new technology from AUSTRAC will be able to combat this problem. With the ability to track usernames and accounts, identities for traders would be generated, giving a record of transactions that could be tied to those using digital currencies as a means to supplement their enterprises. This would then enable police organizations and governments to shut down and seize these accounts. The hope is that this technology will be implemented by the end of 2019.