FATF publishes Seventh Targeted Update on Virtual Assets and VASPs

16 July 2026: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) today published its 7th Targeted Update on the Implementation of the FATF Standards on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers.

The report records continued progress across the FATF Global Network,

• 83% of surveyed jurisdictions (91 of 109) have now passed legislation to implement the Travel Rule — up from 73% in 2025.
• A further 11 jurisdictions report that implementation is under way. However, many jurisdictions have yet to translate these legal frameworks into effective supervision and enforcement in practice.
• Only 40% of jurisdictions with Travel Rule legislation have so far taken supervisory or enforcement action on compliance.

The update includes an updated table of measures taken by jurisdictions with materially important virtual asset activity, covering approximately 97% of the global virtual asset market.

Emerging risks highlighted in the report include:

• Organised crime-linked scam centres and large-scale investment frauds, including “pig-butchering” operations generating multi-billion-dollar proceeds.
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)-related cyber theft and sanctions evasion.
• Growing misuse of artificial intelligence in fraud, hacking and money laundering schemes, including deepfakes, synthetic identities and AI-enabled recruitment and exploit development.
• Increasing misuse of stablecoins by illicit actors, including the emergence of proprietary stablecoins explicitly designed to resist freezing and asset seizure.

Priority Actions

• The report sets out priority actions for both public authorities and the private sector to
• Strengthen risk-based supervision and enforcement,
• Improve Travel Rule implementation,
• Enhance international co-operation, and
• Address risks from
• Stablecoins,
• Offshore VASPs,
• Unhosted wallets and
• Decentralised finance (DeFi) arrangements.

FATF President Giles Thomson said:

“This year’s targeted update makes clear that criminal networks continue to abuse virtual assets for illicit purposes and exploit their borderless nature to commit fraud and scams, evade sanctions and launder the proceeds of crime – taking advantage of gaps in countries’ frameworks and uneven implementation of FATF Standards across jurisdictions.

Effective implementation of the FATF Standards can no longer be delayed. Governments and the private sector must work together to strengthen preventive measures and close regulatory gaps, bolster cross-border co-operation and deny criminals the opportunity to exploit weak links in the global system.

As criminal methods become more sophisticated, safeguards must keep pace with technological change and ever-evolving criminal tactics.”

Official sources (verified):

• Press release: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/news/targeted-updated-va-vasps-2026.html
• Full report (PDF): https://www.fatf-gafi.org/content/dam/fatf-gafi/reports/7th-targeted-update-on-implementation-fatf-standards-vas-vasps-2026.pdf.coredownload.pdf
• Report landing page: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Fatfrecommendations/targeted-updated-virtualassets-vasps-2026.html

The summary above is drawn directly from the official FATF press release and report published today. The LinkedIn post you referenced accurately reflects these materials.