The European Parliament adopted a nonbinding resolution on Thursday, October 8, calling on the European Commission to include stricter crypto asset oversight in its upcoming anti-corruption strategy. The resolution urges improved mechanisms for authorities to trace, freeze, confiscate and recover criminal proceeds, and identifies crypto assets, opaque ownership structures and digital tools as areas requiring greater attention.
Lawmakers also requested stronger controls over public procurement, political financing and lobbying, plus additional protections for whistleblowers and investigative journalists. The resolution does not introduce immediate restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions or new compliance requirements for crypto businesses. The European Commission is expected to adopt its anti-corruption strategy by the end of 2026, complementing the EU anti-corruption directive that entered into force in May 2026.
The measure follows Parliament's July resolution on decentralized finance, staking, crypto lending and NFTs, adopted by 390 votes to 86 with 134 abstentions. That text called for stronger anti-money laundering controls, customer identification requirements and closer monitoring of crypto payments, and for the European Commission to examine areas not fully addressed under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.
Regulatory scrutiny has increased since MiCA's final transitional period expired on July 1. An August analysis found that 1,062 crypto firms lacked authorization after the deadline, while only 281 of 1,343 providers had secured approval. The same analysis identified $5 billion in direct transfers from unauthorized firms to sanctioned counterparties, compared with $1.7 billion among authorized providers.
AMLA has separately warned about compliance risks during the EU crypto licensing transition, while the European Securities and Markets Authority outlined 2027 supervisory priorities including operational resilience, outsourcing rules and the upcoming MIDAS crypto market surveillance system. ESMA's findings are expected to feed into the European Commission's MiCA review by June 2027.
