The cryptocurrency landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and 2025 is poised to bring significant challenges for businesses dealing with cryptocurrency—the money laundering avenue of choice for criminals, gangsters and terrorists. At the same time, President Trump’s second administration is stuffed full of ‘crypto-bros,’ advocates of decentralised, high risk ‘currencies’ like Bitcoin, and many more weird and wonderful digital tokens.
Complicating compliance efforts is the potential for a more lenient regulatory approach toward cryptocurrency, with less emphasis on enforcement and oversight. Such policies and decision making from the US authorities could embolden bad actors, further increasing the risks for businesses and financial institutions.
Cryptocurrency’s inherent features are a money laundering risk—anonymity, decentralisation, and rapid cross-border transactions. From drug cartels stuffing blood-soaked dollar bills into Bitcoin ATMs on the streets of Venezuela, to Iran funding proxy terrorist groups via crypto transfer, the risks of crypto are going nowhere.
For any organisation that has a regulatory obligation to understand source of funds or source of wealth, or conduct client due diligence, cryptocurrency is a serious and significant risk. 2025 is only to make compliance more complicated.
