Key facts
- Ireland's new National Anti-Money Laundering Strategy includes measures targeting crypto-assets.
- The strategy mandates enhanced checks on transfers involving private crypto wallets.
- Stricter due diligence will be required for overseas crypto firms.
- These measures are part of implementing the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation and the FATF travel rule.
- The rules aim to prevent the use of crypto for money laundering and criminal proceeds.
Ireland has introduced its inaugural National Anti-Money Laundering Strategy, a comprehensive plan that includes significant reforms for the crypto-asset sector. The strategy, published on Thursday, aims to bolster safeguards against financial crime by implementing the final elements of the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation.
Key provisions of the new strategy involve introducing "enhanced checks" on transfers connected to private crypto wallets and enforcing stricter due diligence procedures for overseas crypto firms. These measures are designed to combat the exploitation of new technologies, including crypto-assets and complex international financial networks, by criminal organizations seeking to conceal illicit profits.
The strategy builds upon a 30-point action plan released in June, which identified crypto-asset misuse as an evolving financial-crime threat. The government has emphasized that Ireland will not serve as a haven for money laundering.
Ireland's approach to implementing the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation included a 12-month grandfathering window for crypto firms, which concluded at the end of December 2025. This means that firms now operating under full authorization face these new obligations. The EU's MiCA regulation, which fully came into force across the bloc on July 1, categorizes crypto-asset service providers as regulated entities and prohibits anonymous crypto-asset accounts.
Beyond the EU framework, the UK's HM Treasury is also reviewing its regulations, proposing to lower the change-in-control notification threshold for crypto firms. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international standard-setter, has been urging member states to apply its travel rule, which requires originator and beneficiary information to accompany transactions, more rigorously to crypto activities.