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The European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which began operations in July 2025 in Frankfurt, immediately identified the cryptocurrency sector as an area with increased risks. Its main goal is to ensure strict compliance with the new pan—European standards for the prevention of money laundering (AML) in all 27 countries of the European Union.

In an interview with the Financial Times, AMLA Chairman Bruna Sego explained that regulators will be given the authority to review in detail not only cryptocurrency platforms, but also their owners.

"It is extremely important to establish who the beneficiaries really are, who the shareholders are, where their funds come from and in which jurisdictions they are hiding," she said.

The main question is whether there are any links between these people or the sources of their funds with money laundering or terrorist financing. Any doubts can lead to serious difficulties for the business.

She also highlighted the problem of disparate approaches to AML in different EU countries. One country has strict rules, while the other has more liberal ones, which creates loopholes for fraudsters and makes supervision really difficult. The new MiCA regulation is designed to eliminate these inconsistencies, but for now companies have to circumvent the pitfalls of regulatory specifics in each country where they want to operate.

Strict restrictions will come into force from the beginning of July 2027. Cryptoservices will have to abandon anonymous wallets and private coins — their use will become illegal. But the biggest impact will be the requirement to provide all government agencies, including AMLA and FIU, with immediate access to all customer account and transaction data, without any delay.

While AMLA is developing its plans, leading crypto companies such as Kraken, Coinbase, Bybit and Bitstamp are actively seeking licenses according to MiCA standards. Even Clearstream is involved in this process. Pressure on companies is increasing from different sides: Google has tightened the requirements for advertising cryptocurrencies in the EU, forcing advertisers to take into account the specifics of MiCA and local laws.

It is obvious that the EU plans to control the crypto market as tightly as traditional financial systems. The question is how this will affect innovation and user privacy. One thing is clear so far: anonymity in the European cryptoeconomy will soon become a thing of the past.