FATF Impact on Crypto Regulations and Global Markets

When the FATF, the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body that sets global standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Also known as the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, it doesn’t have police powers—but its rules force countries to act. The FATF doesn’t make laws, but its recommendations become law in over 200 countries. If the FATF says a crypto business is risky, banks freeze accounts, exchanges shut down, and governments pass new rules overnight.

That’s why Angola banned mining in 2024. Why Pakistan gave 2,000 MW of power to mining operations. Why Canada’s provinces now have different crypto tax rules. The FATF pushed for crypto regulations that require exchanges to know who their users are—KYC and AML rules that turned anonymous trading into a legal minefield. Projects like DDM, UniWorld, and Bitstar didn’t just die from neglect—they were targeted because they had no identity, no team, no compliance. The FATF doesn’t care if a coin is "decentralized." If it can’t be traced, it’s flagged.

And it’s not just about scams. Even legitimate projects like STON.fi or OneDex had to adapt. They added user verification, restricted certain countries, and changed how they handle funds. The FATF guidelines, a set of international standards for financial institutions to prevent illicit use of the financial system forced every exchange, from Kraken to LocalTrade, to choose: comply or disappear. That’s why you see so many unregulated platforms like PayCash Swap and LocalTrade in these posts—they’re the ones that refused to play by the rules. The FATF didn’t create scams, but it exposed them. It didn’t cause the Angola mining ban, but it made it politically unavoidable.

What you’ll find here isn’t theory. It’s real cases: the $37 million seizure in Africa, the dead tokens with zero supply, the countries that bent under pressure, and the ones that found loopholes. This isn’t about crypto being good or bad. It’s about what happens when global regulators decide your wallet is a risk. And if you’re trading, mining, or holding anything digital, you’re already living in the world the FATF built.