TL;DR:
- Ireland published its first National AML Strategy, which includes enhanced controls on transfers involving private cryptocurrency wallets.
- The EU Funds Transfer Regulation requires greater due diligence from crypto firms operating with unregulated foreign companies.
- The strategy, in effect until 2030, builds on a 30-point plan published in June that identified the misuse of crypto assets as a financial threat.
Ireland published its first National Anti-Money Laundering Strategy, a document that incorporates specific measures for the crypto sector and will remain in effect until 2030.
Ireland’s Department of Finance noted that the pending elements of the European Union Funds Transfer Regulation introduce new obligations for crypto asset service providers, including “enhanced controls” on transfers involving private wallets and greater due diligence when operating with crypto firms based outside the bloc.
The central mechanism is the FATF travel rule, which requires each transaction to be accompanied by information on its origin and the beneficiary. This rule was formulated in parallel with MiCA, which established crypto asset service providers as a regulated category across the European Union. MiCA entered fully into force on July 1, and Brussels is preparing a review of the regulatory framework for 2027 that seeks to incorporate non-European stablecoin issuers.
Ireland Grants an Adaptation Period
Ireland granted crypto firms an adaptation period of 12 months, shorter than the maximum 18 months allowed by the regulation according to the ESMA register. That deadline expired at the end of December 2025, meaning the new obligations now fall on companies that already hold full authorization.
Finance Minister Simon Harris stated that criminal organizations exploit new technologies, crypto assets, and complex international financial networks to conceal profits, and that the strategy demonstrates that Ireland will not be a haven for money laundering.
The document builds on the 30-point plan that the Irish government presented in June alongside its National Risk Assessment, which identified the misuse of crypto assets among the country’s emerging financial threats. The most significant domestic measure in that plan tasked the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland with developing a sectoral standard for accepting crypto assets as a source of funds, with due diligence to verify their legitimacy, scheduled for the second quarter of 2027.
Privacy Coins Strictly Prohibited
At the European bloc level, the AML Regulation prohibits crypto service providers from offering or maintaining anonymous accounts or those that allow transactions to be anonymized, including privacy coins. The prohibition, however, does not extend to self-hosted wallets whose providers have no access to or control over them. These rules take effect in July 2027 and will be overseen by the Anti-Money Laundering Authority headquartered in Frankfurt.
