EU and 8 Countries Sign Warsaw Protocol to Strengthen Crackdown on Crypto-Asset Crime

PANews reported on October 18, citing Bitcoin.com News, that the European Union and eight countries—Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, and the United Kingdom—signed an additional protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (the "Warsaw Convention"). The protocol brings virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) within its scope, aiming to combat transnational crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing carried out using crypto assets.

Key measures include allowing the emergency freezing/confiscation of virtual assets without prior notice when there is transaction risk; expanding the powers of financial intelligence units (FIUs) to suspend crypto transactions suspected of money laundering; requiring countries to establish dedicated asset recovery and management offices; giving victims priority in recovering confiscated assets; in principle, recovered funds exceeding 10,000 euros are to be split equally among participating countries, and encouraging the use of confiscated assets for social good or public purposes.