Islamabad:
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) warned the risks of virtual assets used for money laundering, the financing of terrorism and other illicit activities, and highlighted the need for urgent global action.
The global financial guard dog based in Paris has called on countries to take stronger measures to combat the illicit finance of cryptographic assets, warning that gaps in regulations could have global repercussions.
He said progress has been made since 2024 to regulate virtual assets, many courts still have work to do.
In April 2025, only 40 of the 138 jurisdictions evaluated were “largely in line” to the cryptographic standards of the FATF, against 32 a year earlier, the FATF said in a press release. “With virtual assets intrinsically without border, regulatory failures in a jurisdiction can have global consequences,” he added.
The FATF has also raised concerns about the use of stabbed, a type of cryptocurrency fixed to fiduciary currencies, by “various illicit actors”, including North Korea, terrorist financiers and drug traffickers. He said most of the illicit crypto activities now involve stablecoins.
