EU and eight nations sign Warsaw Convention crypto protocol

Key points

• National financial intelligence units gain power to suspend crypto transactions suspected of links to money laundering.
• Recovered sums above €10,000 are to be shared equally among the countries involved in retrieval operations.

The EU and eight allied nations have signed the Warsaw Convention crypto protocol, becoming the first subscribers to an additional protocol that brings virtual assets within the treaty's scope.

Signatories are also asked to set up asset recovery offices to seize digital assets and asset management offices to hold them.

National financial intelligence units gain wider powers, including the ability to suspend crypto transactions suspected of money laundering. Parties affected by a seizure will have priority in reclaiming assets, and sums above €10,000 will be split equally among the countries involved in the recovery. States are also urged to legislate so confiscated crypto can be used for social reuse or other public-interest purposes.

Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset said criminal money sustains organised crime and no state can recover criminal assets across borders alone. Member states adopted the new provisions in May 2026 as the bloc seeks to bring crypto assets under effective oversight.

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