Key facts
- Organized crime gangs in Ireland are renting vaults to store cryptocurrency private keys and seed phrases.
- These vaults also contain cash, luxury watches, handbags, and passports.
- The Criminal Assets Bureau has reported this trend to the government's Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee.
- New EU anti-money laundering rules will ban cash transactions above €10,000 and increase supervision on crypto-asset service providers.
- Despite the use of vaults, the head of the Criminal Assets Bureau described criminal crypto use in Ireland as 'still quite basic,' with cash remaining dominant.
- The bureau has seized over €130 million from a 6,000 BTC seizure made in 2019.
Organized crime gangs in Ireland are increasingly using rented private vaults to store the digital keys and seed phrases that control their cryptocurrency holdings, according to Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins, head of the Criminal Assets Bureau. These vaults are also used to store physical assets like cash, luxury watches, and passports.
Gubbins stated that this practice has emerged from the bureau's investigations and has been communicated to the government's Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee. This committee is preparing Ireland for new EU regulations set to take effect next summer, which will include a ban on cash transactions exceeding €10,000 and enhanced scrutiny for businesses dealing with significant cash amounts or providing crypto-asset services.
While gangs may be turning to crypto to diversify assets and seek perceived anonymity, Gubbins noted that its criminal use in Ireland remains "still quite basic." He highlighted price volatility and the risk of losing access to wallets as significant deterrents. Cash continues to be the dominant medium for illicit activities, particularly drug trafficking.
The bureau has also encountered professional money launderers who operate informal transfer systems like hawala, charging commissions of around 6%. In one instance, the bureau seized €230,000 from a safe deposit box at a private vault company. Separately, the bureau, with Europol's assistance, has cracked one of twelve wallets containing 6,000 BTC, originally seized from a cannabis grower in 2019. Over €130 million of this holding has now been liquidated, and the bureau returned nearly €15 million to the Irish treasury last year.