Andrew Aleksandrov

On October 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published its first industry-specific brochure on sanctions compliance for the virtual currency industry, setting out the components it expects to see in a sanctions program: management commitment, risk assessment, internal controls, testing

The phrase “crypto startup” tells you almost nothing about which AML obligations apply. A four-person team building a custodial swap interface, a payment processor settling stablecoin invoices for merchants, a token issuer running a redemption desk, and a non-custodial DEX front end all describe themselves the same way

In its June 2025 Targeted Update on Virtual Assets, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) reported that 85 of 117 responding jurisdictions — about 73% — had passed Travel Rule legislation, up from 65 a year earlier. The number is rising, but it carries a quieter message for anyone moving crypto between

On 17 April 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority confirmed that the MiCA transitional period across the EU will officially expire on 1 July 2026 — after which any entity providing crypto-asset services without a CASP authorization will be in breach of EU law. For the roughly 1,200+

FATF's Seventh Targeted Update, published on 16 July 2026, shows measurable progress in global implementation of Recommendation 15 — but also a shift in where the biggest gaps now sit. As of April 2026, 34% of assessed jurisdictions (51 of 149) are Largely Compliant with R.15, up from

Global AML fines jumped roughly 417% in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, and crypto exchanges took the single largest share — over $920 million in AML-related penalties across the year, according to industry enforcement-tracking research. Reviewing the 2025 record, regulators kept flagging

If you run a crypto business in 2026, an AML API is no longer an optional add-on — it is part of the operating fabric. Exchanges, custodial and non-custodial wallets, payment providers, OTC desks, brokers, crypto fintech platforms, and registered VASPs and CASPs all rely on AML APIs to

In its most recent horizontal review of beneficial ownership transparency, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) reported that the misuse of legal persons — companies, trusts, and similar corporate vehicles — remains one of the most consistently exploited weaknesses in global Anti-Money Laundering systems, with the majority of assessed jurisdictions receiving

In 2024, an estimated $2.8 billion in crypto assets were frozen by exchanges and regulatory bodies due to compliance issues and illicit activity exposure. Blockchain analytics data shows that flows from illicit sources to centralized exchanges averaged over $14 billion per year between 2020 and 2025, with nearly $7

Financial institutions filed 4.7 million suspicious activity reports in fiscal year 2024, an average of 12,870 per day. More than 87% of IRS Criminal Investigation cases recommended for prosecution over the prior two years had a related BSA filing. The system works, but only when the process between

According to AMLBot's Crypto Crime Report 2025–2026, 65% of crypto incidents investigated across 2,500+ real cases were driven by social engineering — not technical exploits. Investment Scams, Phishing, and Device Compromise accounted for the majority of case volume. The victims were not exclusively large exchanges or institutional

Independent research conducted across 2024–2025 found that more than 50% of wallets ultimately flagged as high-risk were initially assessed as safe at the time of onboarding. A wallet that passes every identity check on day one can become a conduit for laundered funds on day thirty — and if

Intro According to Crypto Crime Report 2025–2026, 65% of crypto crime cases were driven by Social Engineering rather than Technical Exploits. Investment Scams accounted for 25% of all cases by volume, followed by Phishing (18%) and Device Compromise (13%). The data confirms that modern crypto crime has entered a

Crypto Businesses process high volumes of transactions every day, but the real compliance challenge is not volume alone — it is the fact that risk travels through transaction chains, counterparties, and indirect exposure that is rarely obvious at first glance. A wallet may appear clean in isolation while still carrying meaningful

INTRO Global Crypto Tax reporting requirements are now taking shape across dozens of countries, each reflecting a combination of domestic regulatory priorities and international standard-setting. Since 2021, major jurisdictions have been translating the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework into domestic law while simultaneously developing their own parallel

Intro Not all stolen cryptocurrency can be recovered. Blockchain immutability, non-custodial wallet architecture, mixing services, cross-chain dispersion, and jurisdictional enforcement gaps each create independent barriers that can make recovery technically and legally unfeasible. Understanding these limitations matters before committing resources to a recovery effort. Quick Facts * Blockchain transactions

INTRO Crypto Tax Reporting is now a mandatory compliance obligation in 67 jurisdictions worldwide. The OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and the EU’s DAC8 Directive require crypto platforms to collect and submit transaction data to tax authorities annually. Understanding what these obligations cover and who they apply

INTRO Governments are increasing oversight of crypto markets — not by banning activity, but by making it visible. The core issue is simple: crypto transactions can be executed globally, often outside traditional financial systems. As a result, tax authorities historically had limited visibility into cross-border crypto activity. The Crypto-Asset