Ireland Cracks Down on Self-Custody Wallets, Foreign Crypto Firms

Ireland has introduced a new AML framework that targets self-custody wallets and foreign crypto firms, aiming to align with EU standards and combat financial crime.

The strategy places a specific focus on transactions between regulated financial or crypto firms and private user-controlled wallets, which lack automatic identification of the owner.

This move does not represent a ban on self-custody, but rather requires more rigorous risk assessments for these types of transactions to limit fund transfers with insufficient information about their origin and recipient.

The Irish approach also tightens checks on foreign crypto firms, requiring local financial institutions and companies to apply more complex due diligence when dealing with external businesses.