FATF (Financial Action Task Force)
An intergovernmental body that sets global standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, including crypto-specific rules.
FATF (Financial Action Task Force) is an intergovernmental organization, founded in 1989, that sets international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. It doesn't have direct legal power to enforce anything itself — instead, member countries commit to implementing its recommendations into their own national law.
FATF's most significant crypto-specific contributions are the VASP concept and the Travel Rule, both introduced in guidance first published in 2019 and updated since. Individual countries' actual AML laws (including the EU's MiCA-era rules) are typically built on top of FATF's recommendations rather than replacing them.
Related terms
VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider)
A term used by FATF for businesses providing virtual-asset services — exchanges, custodial wallets, and similar — subject to AML rules worldwide.
Travel Rule
A FATF anti-money-laundering rule requiring exchanges to share sender and recipient information on crypto transfers above a set threshold.
KYC and AML
KYC is customer identity verification; AML is the broader set of anti-money-laundering procedures that KYC is part of.