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A Singaporean man has pleaded guilty in the United States to his role in one of the largest single-victim cryptocurrency thefts in the country, admitting to participating in a scheme that resulted in the theft of more than $245 million worth of Bitcoin. Malone Lam, 22, pleaded guilty to a federal racketeering conspiracy charge in Washington, D.C., after prosecutors accused him of helping organise a network that used sophisticated social-engineering techniques to gain access t

Newly examined financial records from Tether's early years have raised questions about the effectiveness of customer due diligence surrounding the issuance of USDT, after several entities and individuals that purchased the stablecoin directly from the company were later connected to sanctions evasion, money laundering, drug trafficking and other financial crimes. The records provide an unusual look at Tether's primary customer base during a period in which USDT was undergoing

US authorities have seized more than $560,000 in cryptocurrency allegedly intended to support Hamas, while simultaneously dismantling websites, servers and online communication infrastructure used to solicit digital-asset donations and recruit supporters. The operation represents another significant intervention against the use of cryptocurrency as a channel for terrorist financing and demonstrates the increasingly sophisticated methods being used by law enforcement to identi

The European Central Bank is advancing its plans to create an integrated European market for tokenised assets, with Executive Board member Piero Cipollone warning that the emergence of fragmented digital platforms could worsen existing divisions across Europe’s capital markets. Speaking on Wednesday at the Deutsche Bundesbank’s Symposium on “Future of payments: trends and innovations in Germany and Europe” in Frankfurt, Cipollone said the ECB was now translating into action a

Vietnam has formally expanded its anti-money laundering framework to address risks associated with crypto assets, marking another major step towards bringing the country's rapidly developing digital-asset market within the scope of financial regulation. The National Assembly approved amendments to the Law on Anti-Money Laundering alongside changes to legislation governing the State Bank of Vietnam and credit institutions. The amendments were approved with 94.6% of lawmakers v

Brazil is introducing a new safeguard for cryptocurrency transactions that will require regulated institutions to delay certain outbound virtual asset transfers for 24 hours before allowing them to proceed. The measure, adopted by the Central Bank of Brazil, is designed to give financial institutions additional time to identify potentially fraudulent or illicit transactions before digital assets leave their control and are transferred to foreign platforms or privately control

Cryptocurrency exchange HTX has come under renewed scrutiny over changes to its on-chain wallet infrastructure, with blockchain intelligence analysis indicating that the platform has repeatedly rotated wallets across several major networks. The activity has raised concerns among compliance professionals because frequent changes to the addresses used to hold and transfer exchange assets can make it more difficult to identify and monitor the financial flows associated with a la

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has warned that significant regulatory gaps in the oversight of decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms are creating opportunities for money launderers, cybercriminals and sanctioned actors to exploit blockchain-based financial services. In a newly published targeted report, the international standard setter outlines how many jurisdictions have yet to identify DeFi arrangements that fall within existing anti-money laundering (AML) and cou

Organisations across the globe are increasingly struggling to deliver cybersecurity metrics that actually meet the needs of boards, executive leadership, and operational security teams, with the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence significantly deepening this already persistent reporting disconnect. Technology intelligence firm IDC argues that cyber risk has shifted beyond being a purely operational issue and is now an existential business threat capable of bringing

Israel has launched a significant regulatory and enforcement operation targeting cryptocurrency wallets allegedly connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), disrupting what authorities describe as an international shadow banking system responsible for transferring tens of millions of dollars over several years. The initiative, led by the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing alongside specialized intelligence and defense agencies, underscores the increa

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Nobitex, Iran’s largest digital asset exchange, as part of a wider action targeting Iranian crypto infrastructure accused of supporting terrorist financing, sanctions evasion and regime-linked financial activity. The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Nobitex on 2 June 2026, along with three other Iranian digital asset exchanges: Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex. OFAC also sanctioned several individuals connected to Nobitex, inc

A Vietnamese national has pleaded guilty in New York to participating in a major identity theft conspiracy connected to a transnational money laundering scheme that allegedly moved at least $67 million in illicit funds through accounts linked to a multinational media company. Le Van Hung, also known as “Hung Van Le” and “Van Hung Le”, admitted his role before a federal magistrate judge in the Southern District of New York on 29 June 2026. According to U.S. prosecutors, Hung w

Binance is facing one of its most serious regulatory setbacks in Europe after failing to secure authorisation under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, commonly known as MiCA, before the end of the transitional period. The world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume has informed users in several EU markets that it will no longer be able to provide certain crypto-asset services from 1 July 2026. The move follows the withdrawal of its licence application in Gr

Curaçao is tightening its approach to crypto gambling, giving licensed online gambling operators until mid-2027 to align with new compliance expectations under the jurisdiction’s reformed regulatory framework. The Curaçao Gaming Authority has issued new guidance for business-to-consumer online gambling operators that accept cryptocurrency, marking another step in the island’s transition from a historically flexible offshore licensing model to a more structured and complianc

Thailand has blocked nearly 14,000 illegal online gambling links as authorities intensify enforcement during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, one of the biggest betting periods in the global sporting calendar. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society reportedly blocked 13,888 gambling-related websites, URLs, social-media pages and online links between 1 June and 18 June 2026. The action came as betting activity increased around the World Cup, which began on 11 June and is expect

Artificial intelligence is becoming a serious part of the anti-money laundering conversation, but the newest development is not simply about making transaction monitoring faster. The more important shift is that researchers are now trying to train machines to anticipate how money launderers may adapt before those methods appear in real financial data. A research team at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering is working on a project funded by

The Financial Action Task Force is moving global anti-money laundering expectations into a more operational phase, with recent updates showing a clear shift away from purely formal compliance and towards practical effectiveness, stronger payment transparency, sanctions implementation and better detection of cross-border financial crime. The latest developments follow the FATF Plenary held between 17 and 19 June 2026, where members approved a series of initiatives dealing wi

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee has backed the long-awaited digital euro, giving the project fresh political momentum as the EU seeks to strengthen its financial autonomy and reduce reliance on US-dominated payment infrastructure. The vote, reported on 23 June 2026, is not the final approval of the digital euro, but it is an important step in the legislative process. The European Parliament is expected to formalise the committee’s position

Hong Kong is accelerating the use of artificial intelligence in the fight against financial crime, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) signalling that advanced analytics, machine learning and AI-powered monitoring tools will play an increasingly important role in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls. The latest step came on 22 June 2026, when the HKMA published new material aimed at supporting the adoption of artificial intelligence in fin

The Bank of England has softened key parts of its proposed stablecoin regime, marking an important shift in the United Kingdom’s attempt to regulate digital money without undermining innovation in the payments sector. The central bank published its policy statement and draft rules for sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins on 22 June 2026. The framework is intended to support the use of stablecoins as trusted digital money in the UK, while protecting financial stability,