Bitcoin transaction a new phenomenon used by bookies: ICC Integrity Head

Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak’s admission of cricket corruption on Wednesday has thrown light on the use of cryptocurrency by bookies, which is a new challenge for the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit.

Streak was on Wednesday banned by the ICC for eight years after admitting to disclosing inside information to a suspected Indian bookie during his coaching stints in Zimbabwe, Bangladesh as well as the IPL.

So far, cash has been the most preferred mode of payment for bookies hwoever, Streak’s case has thrown up the use of bitcoin in corrupt payments.

The detailed judgement by the global cricket governing body has revealed that the former Zimbabwe skipper received two “bitcoins” from a corruptor in 2018, valued at USD 35,000 at that time.

“It is a new phenomenon for us, but we have staff capable of investigating it. Corrupters try to use all modes including cash and ‘hawala’, which are not easy to trace either. Bitcoins pose a similar challenge,” ICC ACU General Manager Alex Marshall was quoted as saying by PTI.

Significantly, Cryptocurrency is virtual money. The bitcoins that are generated aren’t regulated by any central banking authority in any country (like the Reserve Bank of India) and in many countries like India, it is still an illegal tender.

In simpler words, it is a “Blockchain Industry” where a financial transaction between two people sitting in two different parts of the world will not have any intermediaries.

“Tracking bitcoin transactions may not be easy, but we have the right people with the right expertise, understanding and network needed to ensure we stay ahead of the corruptors,” Marshall added.

Moreover, BCCI’s new head of Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) Shabbir Hussain Shekhadam Khandwawala accepted that he heard of payment through bitcoins for the first time in his life.

News Desk

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