High-Risk Wallets and Cryptocurrency Mixers: Regulatory Challenges, Legal Accountability, and the Future of AML Enforcement
By Angelina Alyabyeva, Lawyer The proliferation of high-risk cryptocurrency wallets and mixing services presents one of the most significant contemporary challenges to anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) frameworks. This article examines the technical architecture of cryptocurrency mixers, the legal designation and risk profiling of high-risk wallets under existing regulatory instruments, and the growing body of enforcement actions brought by authorities in the United States, European Union, and beyond. Drawing on landmark cases including the OFAC sanctioning of Tornado Cash and the prosecution of Chipmixer operators, the article argues that current legal frameworks are structurally ill-suited to address the unique challenges posed by decentralized obfuscation tools. The article concludes by proposing a risk-tiered regulatory model that would harmonize blockchain analytics obligations with fundamental rights protections. Keywords: cryptocurrency mix...