EU AML Regulation applies: anonymous crypto accounts banned (10 July 2027)

On 10 July 2027, Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, known as the AMLR or single EU anti-money laundering rulebook, starts to apply across the European Union. Adopted on 31 May 2024, it replaces most national rules transposing the current anti-money laundering directives with one directly applicable text. Crypto-asset service providers licensed under MiCA are among the obliged entities.

What changes for crypto users?

Article 79 of the AMLR prohibits credit institutions, financial institutions and crypto-asset service providers from keeping anonymous accounts, including anonymous crypto-asset accounts and any account that allows the anonymisation or increased obfuscation of transactions, including through anonymity-enhancing coins. In practice, EU exchanges and brokers will not be able to offer accounts in privacy coins such as Monero; several platforms have already delisted them.

Key points

• Date of application: 10 July 2027 (Article 90); a few non-crypto sectors get until 2029.
• Who is concerned: banks, payment and financial institutions, and crypto-asset service providers operating in the EU.
• What is banned for them: anonymous accounts and accounts using anonymity-enhancing coins.
• What is not banned by this article: holding crypto, including privacy coins, in your own self-custody wallet.
• Many technical details are left to standards drafted by the new EU anti-money laundering authority (AMLA) and the European Banking Authority.

Why it matters

The AMLR completes the EU framework built with MiCA and the transfer of funds rules: identity checks become uniform across member states, and the anonymous corner of regulated crypto services disappears. If you hold privacy coins on an EU platform, check its announcements well before July 2027 and plan withdrawals to a wallet you control. This page summarises the legal text and is not legal advice.