Free ACAMS CCAS Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 2

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies secured by cryptography, operating independently from any central bank or government. Blockchain is the underlying distributed ledger technology supporting cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain are not the same (B). Digital assets can exist off-blockchain (C), such as tokenized assets on centralized databases. While cryptocurrencies can be used as payment, blockchain itself is a technology, not a payment method (D).

CDD includes verifying the customer’s identity using reliable, independent documentation before or during onboarding.

Small-value repeated payments to known extremist donation wallets are a terrorism financing indicator noted in FATF typology reports.

Structuring (smurfing) involves breaking transactions into smaller amounts to evade AML reporting thresholds, a classic ML tactic.

Hash immutability means that altering any transaction would require changing all subsequent blocks and achieving majority consensus. This security property underpins blockchain integrity and forensic traceability, crucial in AML investigations.

The Travel Rule, part of FATF Recommendation 16, requires VASPs to share sender and recipient information for virtual asset transfers above USD/EUR 1,000. The aim is to enable tracing and detection of illicit funds.

Criminals often move cryptoassets through multiple intermediary wallets (many “hops”) rapidly to obfuscate the transaction trail and avoid clustering, which blockchain analytics use to link related addresses.

Simply receiving large amounts (A), holding assets (B), or splitting movements (D) are less effective at preventing clustering.

FATF defines VASPs as entities that conduct one or more of the following activities:

Exchanging one or more forms of virtual assets (B),

Providing financial services related to initial coin offerings (ICOs) (C),

Exchanging virtual assets for fiat currencies or vice versa (D).

Mining operations (A) and software creation (E) are excluded from the VASP definition as they do not involve financial intermediation. Initial public offerings (IPOs) (F) pertain to traditional securities and are outside the scope of VASP activities.

This definition aligns with FATF Recommendation 15 and DFSA regulatory frameworks.

Ongoing monitoring is the continuous analysis of customer activity to detect unusual or suspicious patterns over time.

Money laundering risk increases if the business operates in or near high-risk jurisdictions (D) or regions associated with narcotics production (C), as these are common sources of illicit funds.

An increase in volume and users (A) or supporting various cryptoassets (B) alone does not necessarily increase ML risk. Recent licensing (E) may indicate regulatory compliance, potentially lowering risk.