PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (August 26, 2021) – Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) Justice Studies Professor Sesha Kethineni, Ph.D., was recently named winner of the Richard J. Terrill Paper of the Year Award by the International Criminal Justice Review (ICJR) for her research on cryptocurrency and criminal activities.
Sesha Kethineni, Ph.D.
Kethineni’s paper, “The Rise in Popularity of Cryptocurrency and Associated Criminal Activity,” features co-author and PVAMU doctoral student Ying Cao.
“Our paper looks at how cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero have become the currency of choice for many drug dealers and extortionists,” Kethineni said. “The research further shows how cryptocurrency-related criminal activities extend to tax evasion, money laundering, Ponzi schemes, and the theft of cryptocurrencies to kidnapping for ransom.”
According to Kethineni, opportunities increase for criminals to hide behind the presumed privacy and anonymity as the demand for cryptocurrencies increases. “Identifying these cryptocurrency-related crimes have posed challenges for law enforcement due to the cross-border nature of transactions, the use of evasion technology to mask the identity of users and inconsistent regulations.”
Kethineni said her study addresses four research questions: (1) What role do cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, play in criminal activities? (2) What factors facilitate cryptocurrency-related criminal activities? (3) What role do politics play in regulating cryptocurrencies? and (4) What challenges do they pose for regulators and law enforcement?
“Using a systematic content analysis of court documents and news reports, we examined virtual currency-related crimes and identified five major themes,” Kethineni said. “We discovered that Bitcoin is the dominant cryptocurrency used in criminal activities because of its high value and faithful followers. Also, most of the crimes involving Bitcoin are property crimes. And traditional crimes, such as kidnapping, murder, and extortion are slowly becoming part of the cryptocurrency world.”
“Overall, these findings will help us to understand the current climate of virtual currencies, their use in criminal activities, and the complexities involved in regulating cryptocurrencies,” she said.
The ICJR is a scholarly journal dedicated to publishing peer-reviewed research on crime and justice across the globe. The Richard J. Terrill award is jointly sponsored by Sage Publications and the Department of Criminal Justice at Georgia State University.
The award is named for Richard J. Terrill, the journal’s creator and former editor, and is given annually to the paper deemed the best article published in ICJR.
“As a result of my work on this topic, I have gotten several requests to submit manuscripts, serve as guest editor and submit book proposals,” Kethineni said. “I am so excited for this new chapter.”
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