European Parliament adds crypto assets to its wish list for the Commission's anti-corruption strategy
European Parliament adopted a nonbinding call for the Commission's end-2026 anti-corruption strategy to cover crypto assets and hidden ownership. It imposes no new duties on crypto firms, crypto.news reported, so what they spend depends on the Commission's text.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- MEPs asked for stronger procedures to trace, freeze, confiscate and recover the proceeds of criminal offenses.
- The strategy is meant to complement the EU anti-corruption directive in force since May, which harmonizes offense definitions and minimum penalties.
- The resolution also seeks stricter procurement and grant rules, clearer lobbying and conflict-of-interest standards, common political-financing rules and protection for whistleblowers and journalists.
- In a separate July 7 resolution, Parliament asked the Commission to examine how decentralized finance, staking, crypto lending and NFTs are treated under MiCA.
Why it matters
- Who has to decide decision EU crypto firms can hold compliance spending flat on this vote and budget against the Commission's year-end strategy text instead.
- What it limits constraint Because the resolution is nonbinding, Parliament's crypto ask survives only as far as the Commission chooses to write it into its own strategy.
- What it sets up precedent A second crypto request from Parliament in three months sets the expectation of a crypto chapter, so a strategy without one would show the Commission leaving the subject to MiCA and AML rules.
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The Commission has 84 days from the October 8 vote to hit its end-2026 target [1][5][13]. Parliament's recovery request covers criminal proceeds in general. MEPs want authorities to be able to identify illicit proceeds, stop them moving and recover the funds once an investigation closes [8].
Stopping a token from moving takes the cooperation of whoever holds it. The EU's anti-money-laundering authority, AMLA, has already raised doubts about how much compliance capacity licensed holders have to spare [12]. Its chair, Bruna Szego, warned in July that firms leaving the EU market after MiCA's transitional period could see heavy withdrawals, and that licensed providers taking in new customers might struggle to keep their existing compliance standards [12].
If the strategy includes a crypto asset-recovery section that becomes legislative proposals, tracing and freezing turn into a real cost for those licensed providers. If it mentions crypto in a sentence and leaves the detail to the anti-money-laundering and MiCA work already under way, the October vote changes little for anyone's budget [9][11]. If it slips past the end of 2026, the question moves into the following year [5].
I think the middle outcome is the most likely. Crypto is one item on a long list of asks, alongside procurement, lobbying and political financing [3]. The counter-case rests on July. That resolution urged investigators to use blockchain technology to identify criminal transactions and to cooperate on blocking illegal transfers, and the Commission could treat it and Thursday's text together as a standing instruction [11][1]. It passed by 390 votes to 86 with 134 abstentions, so about 64% of the 610 members taking part voted yes [10][14]. The view is wrong if the strategy published by the end of 2026 names crypto-asset service providers in its tracing, freezing and confiscation measures [4][5].
What to watch
- AMLA's planned report on compliance risks in the MiCA licensing transition, covering the strain on licensed providers its chair flagged in July.
- Any Commission move on Parliament's July request to review decentralized finance, staking, crypto lending and NFTs under MiCA.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
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- [1]
Members of the European Parliament adopted a nonbinding resolution on Thursday, October 8, urging the Commission to address the use of digital assets and complex corporate structures in corruption-related activities.
- [2]
Lawmakers urged the European Commission to address corruption risks linked to crypto assets, opaque ownership structures and digital tools in its upcoming anti-corruption strategy.
- [3]
MEPs called for stricter rules on public procurement and grants, more harmonized conflict-of-interest standards, clearer lobbying rules, common rules for political financing, and stronger protections for whistleblowers and investigative journalists.
- [4]
The resolution called for stronger procedures to trace, freeze, confiscate and recover proceeds linked to criminal offenses.
- [5]
The Commission plans to adopt its anti-corruption strategy by the end of 2026.
- [6]
The strategy is intended to complement the EU anti-corruption directive, which entered into force in May and harmonizes definitions of corruption offenses and minimum penalties across the bloc.
- [7]
The resolution did not establish new restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions or introduce immediate compliance requirements for crypto businesses.
- [8]
MEPs want authorities to have stronger mechanisms for identifying illicit proceeds, preventing their movement and recovering funds after criminal investigations.
- [9]
A July 7 Parliament resolution asked the European Commission to review how decentralized finance, staking, crypto lending and nonfungible tokens should be treated under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.
- [10]
Parliament adopted the July digital asset resolution by 390 votes to 86, with 134 abstentions.
- [11]
The July recommendations included stronger anti-money laundering controls, effective customer identification requirements and closer monitoring of crypto payments, and encouraged investigative authorities to use blockchain technology to identify criminal transactions and cooperate on blocking illegal transfers.
- [12]
In July, AMLA chair Bruna Szego warned about customer migration from unlicensed exchanges to authorized providers after the end of MiCA's transitional period; according to Szego, firms leaving the EU market could experience heavy withdrawal activity, while licensed providers receiving new customers might struggle to maintain their existing compliance standards.
- [13]
The Commission has 84 days between the October 8 vote and the end of 2026.
- [14]
About 64% of the 610 MEPs who took part in the July vote backed the digital asset resolution.
Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cointelegraph.comEU lawmakers push crypto onto anti-corruption agenda
1 article · October 8, 2026
- crypto.newsEU lawmakers flag crypto risks in new anti-corruption recommendations
1 article · October 8, 2026
- cryptobriefing.comEU lawmakers target crypto and opaque ownership in corruption fight
1 article · October 9, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Anti-corruption policy
- Crypto Regulation and Licensing
- Anti-Money Laundering
Entities
- Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation
- Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism
- European Commission
- European Parliament
- EU anti-corruption directive