I don't think we spend a country worth of energy to run data centers which support the financial system around the world.
A top of the line supercomputing center needs 4-6 megawatts of energy, cooling and utilities included. CERN's main power supply is around 12-15 megawatts IIRC. Bitcoin network needs as much energy as a mid sized European country, which is way bigger than this number.
A normal bank data center probably needs 1-2 megawatts at most, on the other hand.
That's the power aspect.
On the other hand cryptocurrencies are slowly started to being regulated, so they'll be divided to legal and illegal ones. So money laundering will be no different regardless of the medium/currency you use.
It's the cat and mouse game part. Cryptocurrencies are trying to go against systems which are built over centuries, if not millenia.
A top of the line supercomputing center needs 4-6 megawatts of energy, cooling and utilities included. CERN's main power supply is around 12-15 megawatts IIRC. Bitcoin network needs as much energy as a mid sized European country, which is way bigger than this number.
A normal bank data center probably needs 1-2 megawatts at most, on the other hand.
That's the power aspect.
On the other hand cryptocurrencies are slowly started to being regulated, so they'll be divided to legal and illegal ones. So money laundering will be no different regardless of the medium/currency you use.
It's the cat and mouse game part. Cryptocurrencies are trying to go against systems which are built over centuries, if not millenia.
Good luck with that.