In the framework of the 8th Mexico-European Union Summit held this week, Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Álvarez and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Caja Callas announced their intention to strengthen bilateral cooperation on financial security.
The main focus includes combating money laundering. illegal use of Virtual currency created by transnational criminal organizations. At a May 21 press conference, Foreign Minister Velasco Álvarez said:
We talked today about how there are criminal organizations that carry out activities such as money laundering on a global level. Of course, we also talked about what it has to do with the use of cryptocurrencies in this kind of illegal activity. We therefore intend to maintain dialogue and explore possibilities for cooperation to address threats and activities of this type.
Roberto Velasco, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico
This declaration is Strengthening cooperation between Mexican and European authoritiesespecially when it comes to Europol. Its purpose is to improve the exchange of financial and tactical intelligence to track illicit flows in decentralized networks (also known as “blockchains”) and other digital assets.
The initiative is part of the signing of a modernized global agreement that renews commercial and political relations between Mexico and the European Union, which have been in place since 2000.
For the cryptocurrency ecosystem, this announcement is relevant but not surprising. The European Union has developed one of the most advanced regulatory frameworks in the world, the MiCA Regulation, which imposes registration, transparency, and anti-laundering obligations on crypto asset service providers.
Meanwhile, Mexico has strengthened its anti-money laundering (AML) regulations through the Financial Intelligence Institute (UIF) to include operational reporting using virtual assets.
Experts from research firm Chainalysis say organized crime’s use of cryptocurrencies tends to focus on stablecoins and transactions on centralized exchanges and DeFi protocols with little oversight.
According to historical data from the aforementioned researchers, while the proportion of illegal cryptocurrency transactions is small (generally less than 1% of the total), the absolute value is large at approximately $154 billion, requiring specialized on-chain analysis tools.
In the case of Mexico, this is not the first time that efforts to combat the fraudulent use of cryptocurrencies have been talked about. In March this year, CriptoNoticias reported that the country was making progress in tightening regulations against money laundering and terrorist financing in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The above is according to SumSub’s 2026 State of the Cryptocurrency Industry Report.
Cooperation between Mexico and the EU is Joint training programs, information exchange protocols Improves the ability to identify wallets and addresses associated with criminal activity, while always respecting privacy and human rights frameworks.
Cryptocurrency sector analysts, such as Chainalysis’ former vice president of global policy Caroline Malcolm, believe this type of international partnership is necessary to avoid global regulatory fragmentation that could create regulatory arbitrage and a haven for illicit capital.
But they warn that balance is key. In other words, the goal is to strengthen the control of so-called “blockchain technology,” which is actually just a part of Bitcoin technology, without inhibiting technological innovation and legitimate adoption.
The dialogue announced by Foreign Minister Velasco demonstrates a pragmatic and cooperative approach. This is a deepening of existing collaboration against cross-border financial crime. Success will depend on actually implementing these initiatives in the coming months.
(Tag translation) Cryptocurrency
