FATF Says Travel Rule Adoption Reaches 83% as Stablecoin Abuse Rises

FATF said 83% of surveyed jurisdictions have now enacted the Travel Rule for virtual asset service providers, up from 73% in 2025, with 11 jurisdictions still moving toward implementation. According to ChainCatcher, FATF Chair Gilles Thomson said legal adoption does not guarantee effective enforcement, citing weak technical capability, gaps in identifying underground VASP activity, offshore illicit platforms, and DeFi anti-money-laundering tracing. The report also said the abuse of stablecoins by terror financiers and North Korea-linked networks continued to increase in 2026. According to ChainCatcher, FATF said some criminal networks have begun developing proprietary stablecoins to avoid freezes and asset seizures by centralized issuers, creating networks that operate outside traditional banking settlement systems and law enforcement oversight. FATF cited several cross-border cases to illustrate the scale of the problem, including a Cambodian financial services group that allegedly laundered at least $4 billion between 2021 and 2025, and a Spanish National Guard operation in June 2025 that dismantled a large crypto investment fraud network involving about 460 million euros. The report said the broader market shows a split between growing corporate crypto treasury allocations and a tightening anti-money-laundering response. According to ChainCatcher, Thomson urged governments and private firms to strengthen cooperation in the second half of 2026 to improve oversight of offshore VASPs and DeFi.