Even though it is hard to put a figure on the potential scale of virtual currency misuse, given the size of the market, it is no real surprise over the concern that unregulated systems could offer the anonymity needed for criminals to use virtual assets to launder their profits. At that point, regulators were duty bound to step in and the EU’s Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD) now means that virtual currency exchanges and custodian wallet providers are subject to the same regulatory requirements as other financial services covered by the preceding 4th directive.

Small businesses undoubtedly play a significant role in communities across Ireland but they have also been some of the hardest hit by the negative impact of Covid-19. Insights from the “Visa Back to Business” study have revealed that almost 1 in 5 Irish small to medium enterprises (SMEs) believe that their future viability is at risk due to the commercial impact of COVID-19. Despite these concerns, the study also revealed that consumers across Ireland do really value independent businesses in their community with 63%1 of consumers admitting to wanting to support small businesses.