Overview
- On Thursday, Ireland unveiled its inaugural National Anti-Money Laundering Strategy, which includes regulations pertaining to crypto-assets.
- The final components of the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation will enforce stricter checks on transactions involving private crypto wallets and impose greater due diligence on foreign crypto companies.
- This strategy expands on a 30-point action plan released in June that aimed to strengthen protections related to crypto-assets and digital finance.
Ireland has released its first national anti-money laundering strategy, including provisions aimed at regulating wallets not held by licensed entities.
The majority of the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation has already been enacted in Ireland. The Department of Finance announced that the remaining provisions will introduce new requirements for crypto-asset service providers, necessitating "enhanced checks" on transfers involving private wallets and stricter due diligence for international crypto firms.
Tánaiste @SimonHarrisTD has launched Ireland’s first National Anti-Money Laundering, Countering Financing of Terrorism & Countering Proliferation Financing Strategy today.
➡️ https://t.co/4H8V8hVpC6 pic.twitter.com/1VzVldlun3
— Department of Finance (@IRLDeptFinance) August 13, 2026
This framework is part of the FATF travel rule, which mandates that transaction details regarding both the sender and recipient must be included. The strategy document notes that this initiative coincides with the introduction of MiCA, which designates crypto-asset service providers as a regulated entity category across the EU.
Ireland has given crypto firms less time to adapt compared to many other EU countries, allowing only a 12-month grandfathering period instead of the 18 months permitted by the regulation, as stated in ESMA's list. This period ended in December 2025, meaning new obligations will apply to firms that have already secured full authorization. MiCA came into full effect across the EU on July 1, and Brussels is planning to revise the regulations in 2027 to include non-EU stablecoin issuers.
Simon Harris, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, highlighted that criminal organizations are taking advantage of modern technologies, crypto-assets, and intricate international financial networks to hide their profits. He emphasized that the launch of this strategy signals that "Ireland will not be a safe haven for laundering criminal proceeds." The strategy is designed to remain in effect until 2030.
This document builds on a 30-point action plan released in June alongside the government’s National Risk Assessment, which identified the misuse of crypto-assets as a significant threat in Ireland's evolving financial crime landscape and committed to "enhanced safeguards around crypto-assets and digital finance."
Establishing Crypto Standards for Gambling Operators
One of the most definitive domestic measures regarding crypto was outlined in the June action plan, which instructed the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland to create a standard for accepting crypto-related activities as legitimate sources of funds, with due diligence required to confirm the legitimacy of the funds. This initiative is expected to be implemented by the second quarter of 2027.
Ireland's new measures are part of a broader EU initiative that is tightening regulations. The bloc's Anti-Money Laundering Regulation prohibits crypto-asset service providers from offering or holding anonymous accounts or accounts that enable transactions to be obscured, including through the use of anonymity-enhancing coins. However, this prohibition does not extend to self-hosted wallets, exempting providers of hardware, software, and self-hosted wallets that do not have access to or control over the wallets. These rules will take effect in July 2027 and will be enforced by the Anti-Money Laundering Authority based in Frankfurt.
Outside the EU, the UK is also revising its regulatory framework, with HM Treasury releasing draft reforms in September 2025 that aim to lower the notification threshold for changes in control of crypto firms from 25% to 10%.
The travel rule being finalized in Ireland is derived from the recommendations of the Paris-based organization that evaluates national frameworks and has been urging members to strengthen their crypto regulations. In a July report, the FATF indicated that DeFi platforms with identifiable controllers should be regulated like other financial institutions, noting that nearly 93% of jurisdictions surveyed had yet to apply these standards to any qualifying arrangements.