Cryptocurrency's anonymity: A platform for bad actors?

It can be easy to forget that Nigeria is at war. Boko Haram, the insurgency group that has been a menace to the country since 2009, is still very much around. Many people outside the areas prone to their attacks do not think much about the terrorist group. Even fewer think about how the group gets its money. 

There are no free lunches. Not even for terrorists. They too, need money to maintain their vehicles, feed their soldiers, execute their crimes and so on. These actors get some from ransom payments and petty crimes, but they also receive donations from sympathisers or agents. 

In November 2020, a court in Dubai sentenced six Nigerians for transferring $782,000 to Boko Haram between 2015 and 2016. According to the families, this was a bureau de change (BDC) operation gone wrong. The way the operations occurred between 2015 and 2016 was simple. 

A Boko