EU and 8 countries sign the Warsaw Protocol to strengthen the fight against crypto-asset crime

PANews October 18 news, according to Bitcoin.com News, the European Union and 8 countries including 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) into its scope of application, aiming to address cross-border crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing carried out using crypto assets.

The main measures include allowing urgent 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; recovered funds exceeding EUR 10,000 are in principle to be shared equally among participating countries, and using confiscated assets for social welfare or public purposes is encouraged.