Italy’s central bank orders sanctions screening for crypto transfers

Italy’s central bank, Banca d’Italia, ordered mandatory sanctions screening for cryptocurrency transfers to help curb illicit flows across the EU.The bank said that crypto asset service providers (CASPs) must put policies and internal controls in place to enforce EU financial sanctions when processing crypto transfers, according to a Monday announcement.The central bank said that CASPs should strive to ensure adequate controls to identify customers and transactions linked to sanctioned entities.Cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by Iranian and Russian entities alike to avoid financial sanctions. The Russian ruble-backed A7A5 stablecoin processed $110 billion in cumulative transactions between February 2025 and May 2026, despite being targeted by Western sanctions, according to blockchain security platform CertiK.Iran’s central bank has also reportedly eased foreign currency controls to encourage businesses to use cryptocurrencies such as Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Bitcoin (BTC) to settle cross-border transactions through Iranian exchanges and circumvent sanctions.On July 14, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said American authorities had directed a freeze of more than $130 million in crypto held in wallets linked to Iran’s central bank.In June, blockchain analytics company TRM Labs reported more than $3.8 billion in flows between crypto exchange CoinEx and sanctioned Iranian entities over more than seven years.