The international anti-money laundering standard-setting body warns that stablecoins have become a major tool for illegal transactions and calls for strengthened regulation of issuers

According to CoinDesk, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released a report warning that stablecoins have become the most widely used virtual assets in illegal transactions, calling for increased regulation of issuers.

The report cites data from Chainalysis, indicating that by 2025, stablecoins will account for 84% of the volume of illegal virtual asset transactions, involving an amount of $154 billion. A report from TRM Labs shows that by 2025, illegal entities will receive $141 billion in stablecoins, reaching a five-year high, with sanction-related activities accounting for 86% of illegal crypto fund flows. Actors such as Iran and North Korea are using stablecoins like USDT for financing weapons of mass destruction and cross-border sanctioned payments.

The FATF warns that peer-to-peer transfers conducted through non-custodial wallets represent a key vulnerability, as these transactions can bypass anti-money laundering controls. The FATF urges countries to impose anti-money laundering obligations on stablecoin issuers and consider requiring them to have wallet freezing capabilities and to restrict certain functionalities of smart contracts. The current market capitalization of stablecoins has exceeded $300 billion.