US GAO warns Bitcoin used in cyberattacks against banks

The federal agency that regulates U.S. banks has named virtual currencies as risky operations because of their ability to facilitate and enable cybercrime.

In its newly released semi-annual risk survey, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) warned that virtual currencies continue to be used by criminals to pay ransoms against banks and other businesses.

The agency called the emerging technology of virtual currencies a facilitator of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and a theft of proprietary information from financial institutions.

However, the OCC also revealed that virtual currencies are also being used to finance anonymous online crime, including by terrorists and other groups seeking to transfer and launder money.

"These methods not only pose significant challenges to compliance with bank secrecy and anti-money laundering laws, but also help criminals raise funds for both physical payments and cyberattacks," the report reads.

Although not stated directly, the term "virtual currency" has been used by U.S. regulators to refer to Bitcoin and other blockchain-based cryptocurrencies. For example, in March, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said that virtual currencies and blockchain technology could bring revolutionary changes in the future.

New research suggests that economic crime activity using Bitcoin may be reaching an all-time low.