Current currency regulations are increasingly in line with international standards; 73 % of the qualified judicial states now issued laws to implement the travel base of the Financial Squad (FATF).
Travel base imposes encryption service providers to collect and exchange transactions data for users, similar to traditional financing requirements. On June 26, Faf Absolute Its annual report, which clarifies the extent of modern organizational movements by the judicial states, is close to its global framework to combat money laundering (AML).
This is a direct result of a long campaign by FATF to make encrypted currencies in line with traditional AML and monitoring standards (CFT).
FATF highlighted Stablecoins and decentralized financing (Defi) for the second year in a row, highlighting its increasing use in illegal financing, including North Korean actors. The organization said it plans to issue targeted papers on Stablecoins, encryption platforms abroad and Defi by next summer, hinting to the place where Global Crypto Lugment may go after.
How has the FATF become the backbone of the regulation of encryption
It was a philosophy base extended To cover encrypted currencies and exchanges in 2019 as part of the organization’s standards on AML/CFT. It was added to the 15th (R.15) recommendation – one of the FATF 40 recommendations – as an explanatory note.
Of the 138 judicial killings, only one achieved full compliance with R15 in 2025. At the same time, 40 and the judicial killings were evaluated as “largely compatible”, a height of 32 in 2024. Three judicial states of the incompatibility category were removed.
Compliance means that the judicial jurisdiction has enacted laws that require a license or registration of virtual asset service providers (VASPS)-such as the exchange of cryptocurrencies and trading platforms-or have identified legal persons who carry out activities related to VASP. Cointelegraph said that licensing requirements through judicial states are “very similar”, including in areas that are classified as “encryption centers” such as Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong and Joshua Chu, co -chair of the Hong Kong Web 3,
The Monetary Authority in Singapore, the city’s central bank, recently issued a warning To exchange encryption participating in organizational pleading by avoiding a local license and relying only on customers abroad. The exchanges were advised either by licensing or going out by the end of June.
Related to: You may not find absolute encryption companies in Singapore shelter elsewhere
The move sparked a discussion about whether Singapore is really aimed at becoming a force of digital assets. Some are in industry forecast Hong Kong can benefit more than its regional rival campaign on unlicensed exchanges.
Zhou warned that those looking for more green pastures in competing encryption centers may end up disappointed, because everyone adheres to the same FATF requirements. In fact, Singapore has released more Encryption From Hong Kong.
“The organizers are also fighters on the deadline. So, they will issue ads at the last minute (they may know the draft (FATF) for the report by the point) to find out how they can improve their position before the official report appears.”
“As a result, many judicial states may accelerate efforts to tighten controls, improve risk assessments and impose a FATF travel base. The FATF report reflects this urgency, indicates that although progress has been made, important gaps in risk assessment, licensing and enforcement.”
Hong Kong was also running for additional encryption rules. In May, the upcoming Stablecoin Decree Pass Legislative Council. Then the city issued a newly promoted policy statement with the FAF report.
FATF said that an increasing number of judicial states have now decided how they want to organize their encryption sectors, as 82 % of 163 respondents mentioned that they had identified their favorite organizational approach. There are two main trends that the judicial authorities can take: to allow or prohibit, with a prohibition that ranges from partial to abdominal ban.
The ban has become more common between the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Squad and members of the Money Laundering Group in East and South Africa. However, FATF warns that the judicial authorities should consider this approach carefully, because the full ban can be density in resources and is difficult to impose.
“When the judicial authorities choose the embargo instead of organizing, they do not eliminate encryption within their borders. Instead, they give up supervision, the financial leverage of enforcement and vision in illegal flows,“ Hedi Navazan, senior compliance of 1inch Labs and deputy head of the digital wings division in the field of global powers.
“Let’s be real, coded without limits,” she added.
China, a FATF member, has activities related to cryptocurrencies, such as transactions and mining. But the decentralized nature of Blockchain technology still makes cryptocurrencies largely accessible. Although Beijing has banned bitcoin mining (BTC), Chinese mining pools continue to control the majority of the network fragmentation.
Stablecoins and Defi are under the lights
Stablecoins and Defi got their own sections in the FATF report for the second year in a row on the latest update.
Stablecoins, in particular, was among the largest stories in Crypto in 2025 so far, with the main judicial states progress for legislative proposals for Stablecoin licensing, including genius law in the United States, which opens its doors to technology companies to launch private Stablecoins. The European Union pushed more with markets in organizing encrypted assets (MICA), which defines the rules of Stablecoin.
Related to: Senate Bill Bell passes stablecoin amid concerns about regular risks
But Stablecoins was increasingly linked to illegal activities, including accreditation by North Korea’s actors suspected of financing the state’s weapons program, with industry estimates indicating that 63 % of illegal transactions were an article in Stablecoins.
“Stablecoins, especially USDT, has become a transition to illegal actors.” North Korean infiltrators to fraud networks … this is no longer a specialized problem anymore, “said Navazan.
Despite the increasing organizational interest, most judicial states are still struggling to apply the FATF standards to Defi. According to the FATF report for the year 2025, nearly half of the judicial states that have been carried out or working on the travel base say that some Defi platforms should be licensed as Vasps, but most of them have not specified any such entities in practice.
Of the 47 judicial states claiming that Defi can fall under the VASP organization, it has not found 75 % yet or a single Defi platform license.
FATF standards can be ignored economy
The FATF effect is included in the United Nations framework, with the United Nations Security Council resolutions Urging Member States to implement FATF standards.
“This means that the judicial authorities face strong and tangible incentives to align their laws with advanced FATF standards, not only from good intentions but to avoid the dire consequences,” said Zhu.
Gray Listing acts as a strong enforcement tool for FATF, as it places specialization under increased monitoring, which leads to economic and reputation consequences. Crypto Hub Dubai was previously in the gray list before the United Arab Emirates was removed in 2024.
“Although FST does not make the law, you will be a fool to ignore it. When Fatef speaks, the organizers are listening all over the world. This is how he always works,” Navazan said.
“If your country does not comply with these criteria, this does not only risk a weak classification – it risk becoming isolation.”
FATF phrases, including their annual updates on encryption, provides a preview of the place where global regulations are heading. With the appearance of Stablecoins and Defi as major anxiety fields in 2025, the plan for FATF in these sectors is expected to form the next wave of compliance measures.
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2025-07-01 14:32:00