FATF Greylist Countries: Crypto Implications and Restrictions in 2025

When you send crypto from one wallet to another, you might think it’s just a digital transfer. But behind the scenes, banks, exchanges, and regulators are watching closely - especially if money is moving to or from a country on the FATF greylist. As of June 2025, 24 countries are under increased monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force for weak anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls. That list isn’t just bureaucratic noise. It directly affects your ability to trade, transfer, or even hold crypto if you’re connected to any of these places.

What the FATF Greylist Actually Means

The FATF isn’t a law enforcement agency. It’s a global standard-setter. Founded in 1989, it creates rules that over 200 countries agree to follow. When a country lands on the greylist, it means FATF has found serious gaps in how it stops criminals from using its financial system - including crypto. The country isn’t banned. But banks and crypto firms treat it like a red flag.

Countries on the greylist have agreed to fix these problems within a set timeframe. But until they do, every transaction involving them gets extra scrutiny. That means longer waits, more paperwork, and sometimes outright blocks. For crypto users, this isn’t theoretical. It’s daily reality.

The 2025 FATF Greylist: Who’s On It

As of June 2025, the greylist includes:

• Algeria
• Angola
• Bolivia
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Cameroon
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Haiti
• Kenya
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Monaco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nepal
• Nigeria
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Syria
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Virgin Islands (UK)
• Yemen

Bolivia and the UK Virgin Islands were added in June 2025. Croatia, Mali, and Tanzania were removed after fixing their systems. That’s the key point: greylisting isn’t permanent. It’s a warning with a deadline.

Why Crypto Gets Hit Harder Than Banks

Traditional banks have decades of compliance systems. Crypto exchanges? Many are still building them from scratch. And here’s the problem: blockchain transactions are anonymous by design. A Bitcoin address doesn’t say “Nigeria” or “Syria.” But regulators don’t care about design - they care about risk.

That’s why exchanges now use blockchain analytics tools like Chainalysis and Elliptic. These tools track where crypto moves. If a wallet has ever interacted with a known entity in a greylist country, the transaction gets flagged. You might get asked: “Where did this money come from?” If you can’t answer, your account gets frozen.

And it’s not just about sending crypto to those countries. If you live in Nigeria and buy Bitcoin on a global exchange, your account might still be flagged. Why? Because the exchange doesn’t know if your funds came from a local peer-to-peer seller who’s connected to a greylisted network. So they play it safe - and restrict you.

Real-World Impact: Stories From the Ground

In Nigeria, crypto adoption exploded after the naira’s collapse. But since Nigeria was greylisted in 2019, major exchanges like Binance and Kraken have restricted withdrawals and deposits. Many users turned to decentralized platforms or peer-to-peer apps. But even those aren’t safe. P2P sellers in Nigeria now face higher fees, longer settlement times, and increased risk of scams - because buyers are terrified of getting flagged.

In Venezuela, people use crypto to survive hyperinflation. But when they try to cash out to USD via an exchange, their accounts get locked. Why? Because the exchange’s compliance system sees Venezuela as high-risk. Even if you’re just buying food, you’re treated like a money launderer.

South Africa’s 2024 listing came after years of corruption scandals. The government knew it was coming. But instead of fixing the system, some local crypto firms just moved their servers offshore. That didn’t help users. It just made compliance harder and more expensive for everyone else.

Blacklist vs. Greylist: The Crypto Difference

The FATF blacklist is worse. It includes North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar. These countries aren’t just monitored - they’re isolated.

Crypto exchanges are legally required to block all transactions to and from these places. If you try to send Bitcoin to a North Korean wallet, the transaction won’t go through. Period. Some exchanges even freeze accounts if they detect any past interaction with a blacklisted address.

But here’s the twist: criminals don’t care. North Korea’s Lazarus Group has stolen over $3 billion in crypto since 2017. Iran’s government is developing its own digital currency to bypass sanctions. In Myanmar, crypto is now the main way people send money after the military coup shut down banks.

So while FATF rules make life harder for regular users, they don’t stop bad actors. They just push them into darker corners of the crypto world - where there’s no oversight, no recourse, and no protection.

What Crypto Platforms Are Doing About It

Large exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance have global compliance teams that update their systems every time FATF changes the list. When Bolivia was added in June 2025, their screening tools were updated within 48 hours. Smaller platforms? Many don’t have the resources. That’s why you’ll see some exchanges refuse to serve users from certain countries altogether.

The cost of compliance is huge. One mid-sized exchange told me they spend over $2 million a year just on blockchain monitoring software and legal reviews. That’s why many now charge higher fees for users from greylist countries - or ban them outright.

Some platforms try to be smart. They allow deposits from greylist countries but block withdrawals unless you prove your identity and source of funds. Others use geolocation and IP checks. But none of this is perfect. A VPN can bypass location checks. A fake ID can fool basic verification.

The Hidden Cost: How Greylisting Hurts Economies

Greylisting isn’t just a crypto problem. It’s an economic one.

Pakistan was greylisted from 2008 to 2019. During that time, it lost an estimated $38 billion in foreign investment and trade. Banks refused to open accounts. Investors pulled out. Even legitimate businesses struggled to pay suppliers abroad.

Albania tried to launch a voluntary tax program in 2020. FATF blocked it because the system didn’t meet their standards. The government had to scrap it - even though most citizens supported it.

In South Africa, 82% of people believe corruption got worse in 2023. That’s why FATF added them. But punishing the whole country doesn’t fix the problem. It just hurts ordinary people trying to use crypto to save money or send remittances.

What You Can Do If You’re Affected

If you live in a greylist country and use crypto:

• Use regulated exchanges with strong KYC. Avoid unregulated P2P platforms if you want to avoid freezes.
• Keep records of every transaction - who sent it, why, and how you got the funds.
• Don’t use mixers or privacy coins to hide activity. That raises red flags faster than anything.
• Check if your exchange has a support channel for users from your country. Some offer special compliance paths.
• Be patient. If your account is flagged, respond quickly to verification requests. Delays make things worse.

And if you’re sending crypto to someone in a greylist country? Ask them to use a verified wallet. If they’re using a wallet linked to a known exchange, it’s less risky than a random address.

The Future: More Rules, More Tech

FATF is working on new rules for DeFi and decentralized exchanges. The “Travel Rule” - which requires exchanges to share sender and receiver info - might soon apply to all crypto transfers over $1,000. That’s huge. Right now, only centralized platforms follow it. Soon, even decentralized apps might need to track users.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are also changing the game. Countries like Nigeria and Vietnam are launching their own digital money. FATF will soon require these to include built-in compliance - meaning your digital naira or dong might be traceable from day one.

The goal isn’t to kill crypto. It’s to make it safer. But right now, the rules are blunt. They punish honest users because criminals exploit the system. Until FATF and countries work together to fix corruption and enforcement, the greylist will keep growing - and crypto users will keep paying the price.