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Archive » July / August 2025 » The use of crypto for Money Laundering purposes. The regulatory gap in DeFi

The use of crypto for Money Laundering purposes. The regulatory gap in DeFi

Romina Gabbiadini, Lorenzo Gobbi, Eugenio Rubera
July - August 2025 - n. 7-8
Keywords: Adeguata verifica, Aml, blockchain, cripto, DeFi, Dlt, riciclaggio, Smart contracts, Zero Knowledge Proof
Jel codes: G18, G23, G28

Money laundering is the process by which wealth from illicit sources is hidden, transferred to conceal its origin and subsequently reinvested in the legal economy. Crypto-assets offer money launderers additional tools and techniques to hide the trail, which can be used alone or in combination with more traditional methods. National and European regulation has therefore extended the anti-money laundering (Aml) obligations to entities that provide services in crypto-assets, but decentralized supply models and some jurisdictions are still unregulated. In purely decentralized models, where it is not possible to identify the recipients of anti-money laundering obligations, new technological solutions such as decentralized identity systems and Zero Knowledge Proof can help to fill the regulatory gap.

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