Crypto-related suspicious transaction reports doubled in 2025
The FIAU received 10,700 reports of suspicious transactions last year, with crypto-related reports increasing sharply
Reports of suspicious transactions received from crypto providers doubled in 2025, according to a new report by Malta’s anti-money laundering watchdog.
According to the FIAU’s annual report, tabled in parliament on Tuesday, the agency received 3,712 reports from crypto asset service providers last year, more than twice as many as the 1,751 received a year earlier.
Reports from crypto providers have been steadily increasing over the years, the report shows, rising from just 965 in 2022 to the almost 4,000 today.
FIAU director Alfred Zammit told Times of Malta this increase can be attributed to greater awareness within the crypto industry over their reporting duties, alongside the growing number of crypto providers operating from Malta in the first place.
Reports from gaming companies, on the other hand, appear to be on the decline, dropping from 5,049 in 2022 to 3,022 today.
Total reports rise to 10,700
More broadly, the watchdog dealt with more than 10,700 reports of suspected irregularities throughout 2025.
This was almost 1,300 more than the previous year, when 9,430 reports were received.
In total, 10,712 reports were received last year, involving 14,212 people and a further 1,383 legal entities.
The reports involved more than 2,000 Maltese residents, with a further 1,825 US residents also linked to the cases investigated.
Meanwhile, more than two-thirds (68%) of the legal entities investigated were registered in Malta, with a further 7% based in Cyprus.
Just under 3,000 cases, more than a quarter of the total, were based on suspicions of fraud.
Several others were based on suspected tax crimes and drug trafficking.
11 illegal cash payments for luxury goods
The FIAU also identified 11 high-value transactions last year, worth almost half a million euro, that breached laws barring cash payments of more than €10,000.
The cash payment restrictions, introduced in 2021, aim to stem the use of cash to launder illicit funds through the purchase of luxury goods such as vehicles, property, jewellery and art
In 2025, the agency confirmed that 11 transactions were in breach of these regulations.
Five transactions involved car purchases, with a further five linked to the purchase of boats. Another case dealt with a property transaction.
In total, the 11 irregular transactions had a market value of just under €500,000, with the cash payments exceeding the legally allowed threshold by €171,300.
FIAU imposed 19 penalties, totalling €49,500, over these breaches.
€1.34 million in fines
In total, FIAU imposed 71 fines throughout 2025, with penalties adding up to €1.34 million.
However, the report also reveals that the FIAU’s fines are frequently cut down to size by Malta’s courts upon appeal.
Between 2018 and 2025, 45 appeals were filed against FIAU penalties. In most cases, the court confirmed the operators’ breaches but drastically reduced the penalty. In a handful of other cases, penalties were either confirmed in full or revoked altogether.
Ultimately, courts slashed the €13.1 million worth in fines appealed during this period down to €7.9 million, €5.2 million less than the original sanctions imposed by the FIAU.