Ireland | Crypto

For the first time in seven years, the Irish government released an assessment related to digital assets, noting risks from money laundering, terrorism financing, sanctions violations and bribery. The government of Ireland is taking aim at digital assets used in money laundering and terrorism financing as it moves to implement industry standards “relating to the acceptance of crypto-related activities as a source of funds” by the second half of 2027 as part of its policy priorities. In part of its implementation plan following a national risk assessment released on Thursday, the Irish department of finance said crypto assets presented “very significant” risks related to money laundering and terrorism financing. The government’s 2026 report was the first time in seven years that Ireland released a risk assessment related to digital assets, noting an increase in prosecutions related to money laundering and incidents of fraud in which using crypto was “particularly attractive” to criminal groups. Source: Governm...

Coinbase said it had enhanced oversight and compliance testing after coding errors led to gaps in transaction monitoring between 2021 and 2022. Coinbase Europe Limited, the European affiliate of US crypto exchange Coinbase, has reached a 21.5 million euro ($24.7 million) settlement with the Central Bank of Ireland following technical failures in its transaction monitoring system between 2021 and 2022. In a Thursday blog post, Coinbase said the coding errors caused the exchange’s internal compliance software to only partially screen some transactions for suspicious activity. The company said it detected the issue through internal testing, fixed it within weeks, and later reviewed all affected transactions. Coinbase Europe ultimately filed around 2,700 suspicious transaction reports on transactions totaling about $15 million, out of the 185,000 transactions flagged during the review period. The company said that these filings did not confirm illicit activity, but were made as required under Irish Anti-Money Lau...

Several exchanges have announced MiCA licenses this year, following requirements being enforced in 2024 to offer digital asset services in the EU. Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced that it can now expand its offerings and across European Union’s member states after securing a license under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. In a Wednesday notice, Kraken said it had received the MiCA license from the Central Bank of Ireland, allowing the exchange to offer regulated services to residents in the 30 European Economic Area member states. The approval followed Kraken securing a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) license in February and an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license in 2023. “We believe trust is the most valuable currency in crypto, and it’s something you earn. Over the past several years, our team has worked tirelessly to meet the [Central Bank of Ireland]’s gold standard regulatory expectations,” said Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi. Read more