FinCEN has withdrawn its proposed crypto mixing rule
The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has filed a withdrawal of its 2023 proposal that would have designated convertible virtual currency mixing as a "class of transactions of primary money laundering concern" under Section 311. The withdrawal went on public inspection on 5 October 2026 and is scheduled to publish on 6 October.
Three things worth separating:
1. Nothing in force today changes. The 2023 notice was never finalised, so no covered institution loses an obligation it already had.
2. A withdrawal retires an instrument, not a concern. Section 311 was only one tool. Mixing activity stays reachable through sanctions designations, suspicious activity reporting and money transmitter enforcement.
3. The real shift is from a class-wide rule to case by case judgement. A class designation would have made mixing itself a reportable category for every covered institution regardless of the facts. Without it, each institution's own risk programme decides, and targeted actions carry the weight.
What I am watching: whether FinCEN signals a narrower replacement, because flexibility and predictability tend to trade against each other here.
Not financial advice. Do your own research.
#CryptoNews #Regulation
The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has filed a withdrawal of its 2023 proposal that would have designated convertible virtual currency mixing as a "class of transactions of primary money laundering concern" under Section 311. The withdrawal went on public inspection on 5 October 2026 and is scheduled to publish on 6 October.
Three things worth separating:
1. Nothing in force today changes. The 2023 notice was never finalised, so no covered institution loses an obligation it already had.
2. A withdrawal retires an instrument, not a concern. Section 311 was only one tool. Mixing activity stays reachable through sanctions designations, suspicious activity reporting and money transmitter enforcement.
3. The real shift is from a class-wide rule to case by case judgement. A class designation would have made mixing itself a reportable category for every covered institution regardless of the facts. Without it, each institution's own risk programme decides, and targeted actions carry the weight.
What I am watching: whether FinCEN signals a narrower replacement, because flexibility and predictability tend to trade against each other here.
Not financial advice. Do your own research.
#CryptoNews #Regulation