Germany’s financial watchdog logged over 8,700 crypto-related reports in 2024, mainly involving Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether
Germany recorded its highest number of cryptocurrency-linked suspicious activity reports (SARs) in 2024, underscoring the growing role of digital assets in global money laundering networks.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) noted in its annual report, released this week, that 8,711 suspicious crypto-related notifications were made in 2024. This marked an 8.2% increase over 2023, even as overall SARs in the country declined.
The majority of these reports involved Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and Litecoin (LTC).
These transactions were most commonly linked to crypto trading platforms, mixing services, and online gambling, all mechanisms often used to obscure the origins of illicit funds.
The agency attributed the continued rise in crypto-related alerts to the persistence of laundering tactics despite regulatory efforts.
“These services remain attractive tools for criminal networks seeking anonymity and speed,” the report stated.
Although guidance was issued in 2024 to reduce irrelevant SAR filings, the volume of these alerts related to crypto still reached an all-time high.
Germany’s experience mirrors a broader international trend. In the United Kingdom, the National Crime Agency reported that cryptocurrency exchanges were linked to 6.6% of all SARs in the 2023 to 2024 period.
The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) received more than 8,600 crypto-related SARs in fiscal year 2023, driven by a September advisory that prompted a surge in weekly filings.
Despite signs of reduced laundering volumes, Chainalysis data shows crypto laundering fell from $31.5 billion in 2022 to $22.2 billion in 2023, while criminal usage of digital assets remains stubbornly high. Across 2022, 2023, and 2024, crypto-related illicit activity hovered at an estimated $50 billion per year.
Seizures and shutdowns point to expanding enforcement capacity
The FIU’s findings come amid heightened enforcement efforts in Germany.
In May 2025, federal authorities seized 34 million euros ($38 million) in digital assets tied to a money laundering network that funneled proceeds from the $1.4 billion Bybit hack through eXch, an unregulated crypto-swapping service.
Investigators dismantled the platform’s infrastructure and retrieved eight terabytes of data, marking one of the largest digital evidence seizures in the country’s history.
That crackdown followed another major operation in August 2024, when German regulators seized 13 unauthorized cryptocurrency ATMs and 250,000 euros in cash across 35 locations.
The ATMs, which facilitated anonymous crypto transactions, were found operating without licenses, prompting coordinated action by BaFin, law enforcement, and the Bundesbank.
With the European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) set to take effect by 2027, enforcement bodies are targeting noncompliant platforms in advance.
