Ireland tightens checks on private crypto wallets

The Department of Finance published a national anti-money-laundering strategy that requires regulated crypto firms to apply stronger checks on private wallets and to collect more information on transfers.

Regulated virtual asset service providers, including exchanges, custodians and some payment firms, must carry out enhanced customer due diligence when interacting with private wallet addresses. Firms must flag transfers that lack adequate identifying information, screen wallet addresses against sanctions lists and risk databases, and retain records that allow tracing originator and beneficiary details where possible.

The Central Bank of Ireland and the Revenue Commissioners are named as supervisors for compliance and enforcement. The Financial Intelligence Unit will continue to receive and analyse suspicious transaction reports related to virtual asset flows. The strategy sets out that existing supervisory powers will be used to enforce the new requirements and that penalties are available for breaches.

The document references international standards and recent EU rules that require greater transparency for crypto transfers, including obligations comparable to the “travel rule” that call for passing originator and beneficiary information with certain transactions. Irish officials said the measures are intended to align national practice with those external obligations and to close gaps between regulated platforms and private wallets.

The strategy acknowledges technical and practical challenges. Firms will need to use blockchain analytics and address-screening tools to identify risky wallets. Some decentralised finance transactions lack a single counterparty to scrutinise. The measures focus on interactions that occur via regulated firms rather than attempting to police every on-chain transfer between two non-custodial private wallets.

Industry participants are expected to update compliance systems, onboarding and transaction-monitoring processes. That may result in more frequent identity checks, holds or refusals on transfers that cannot be adequately identified or screened. The Department of Finance plans to publish guidance and apply a proportionate approach to limit disruption to legitimate users.

The strategy calls for continued cooperation with international partners to trace illicit crypto flows across borders and frames the enhanced wallet screening as a domestic implementation of existing international and EU standards.