Workshop 3 – Crypto-investigations: application of the Convention on Cybercrime and the Second Protocol

The rise of digital assets is reshaping global finance. Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) play a crucial role in this respect. They facilitate the exchange, transaction, and storage of virtual assets, fostering innovation and financial inclusion. However, virtual assets are also exploited for criminal activities such as fraud, ransomware payments, money laundering and financing of terrorism due to their decentralized and borderless nature. Enhancing cooperation among criminal justice authorities, financial intelligence units (FIUs) and VASPs across borders is crucial for effective investigations. The question to be addressed by this workshop is how international treaties such as the Convention on Cybercrime with its Protocols, can be used to investigate the criminal use of virtual assets and for international cooperation and cooperation between criminal justice authorities and VASPs. In 2024, therefore, the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) decided to undertake an exercise to map current practices related to virtual assets and in particular the relevance of the Convention on Cybercrime and its Second Protocol in this context. This workshop will thus also feed into the work of the T-CY.

Questions / topics for discussion:

• Typologies of cyber offences involving virtual assets 
• Examples of investigation
• The role of VASPs
• What are the main challenges regarding cooperation between criminal justice authorities and VASPs (across borders);
• To what extent can powers such as preservation orders, production orders, search and seizure be used for obtaining data from VASPs;
• Can the tools for international and cross-border cooperation of the Convention on cybercrime and the Second Protocol be used for obtaining data from VASPs in other jurisdictions?
• Could the 24/7 network of the Convention on Cybercrime be used for cooperation with VASPs?