On 23–24 June 2025, the Council of Europe organised a high-level roundtable on “Decentralised finance and crypto-assets through the lens of financial intelligence units – status and perspectives”, in cooperation with the French Financial Intelligence Unit (Tracfin) and the European Commission’s SG REFORM. The event took place in Strasbourg under the framework of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) project “Development of Tracfin’s expertise on digital finance and virtual assets.”

The event brought together representatives from 25 Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) across the European Union, along with experts from the European Commission, the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), and the Council of Europe. It served as a key platform for discussing operational responses to emerging money laundering and terrorist financing threats involving decentralised finance (DeFi) and crypto-assets.

This event marked the culmination of a pioneering TSI initiative, co-implemented by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, with Tracfin as the main beneficiary. Through a series of cascading training sessions and analytical activities, the project enabled around 200 Tracfin professionals to strengthen their understanding of crypto-related financial crime risks, deepen institutional expertise, and develop enhanced operational tools to detect and respond to threats linked to digital assets.

The roundtable provided a timely opportunity to share the outcomes of the project with the broader European FIU community. It fostered a rich exchange of national experiences and facilitated peer-to-peer learning on operational practices, investigative strategies, and regulatory approaches. FIU representatives from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Cyprus, and Lithuania presented their respective approaches to addressing criminal abuse of the crypto-assets’ ecosystem for money laundering a and terrorist financing purposes. Discussions also covered emerging typologies related to sanctions evasion, investigative techniques, regulatory blind spots, and the future role of AMLA in strengthening coordination among EU FIUs. A central theme which emerged was the need for stronger cross-border cooperation, given the decentralised and transnational nature of crypto-assets and related technologies.

The event reaffirmed the value of targeted technical assistance, strategic dialogue, and institutional partnership in building resilience against financial crime in the digital age. As innovation in decentralised finance continues to outpace regulatory frameworks, priority work and follow up of such initiative remain vital for equipping FIUs with the knowledge, tools, and networks needed to ensure a coordinated and effective European response.

The activity was organised within the framework of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) project on “Development of Financial Intelligence Unit’s expertise focused on digital finance and virtual assets”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe.