EU and 8 Nations Sign Warsaw Protocol to Seize Criminal Crypto Across Borders
Published October 18, 2026, 10:40 PKT. Based on the Council of Europe's October 15, 2026 announcement (primary source), news.bitcoin.com's October 18, 2026 coverage (secondary source), CryptoSpiel's October 18, 2026 coverage (secondary source), and fincrimecentral's October 2026 explainer (secondary source).
The European Union and eight countries have signed a new treaty provision that writes crypto-assets explicitly into Europe's framework for seizing criminal proceeds. The signing ceremony took place on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg, on the first day of the Council of Europe's Octopus conference on cybercrime, according to the Council's October 15 announcement.
Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino and the United Kingdom signed first, alongside the EU itself, making them the first of the Council of Europe's 46 member states to commit to the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on laundering, search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime and on the financing of terrorism, better known as the Warsaw Convention.
"Criminal money sustains organised crime. It also buys what should never be for sale: our democracies. Taking that money away is democratic security," said Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe. "No state can recover criminal assets across borders on its own. With this Protocol, none will have to."
No-prior-notice crypto seizures
The protocol's crypto provisions go well beyond definitional housekeeping. It defines virtual assets and virtual asset service providers within the treaty's scope, and it allows urgent confiscation of virtual assets without prior notice when there is a transaction risk, according to the crypto coverage from news.bitcoin.com and CryptoSpiel. It also improves authorities' access to financial and virtual-asset data held by those providers.
Courts will be able to confiscate property linked to wider criminal conduct, in some cases without a criminal conviction, the Council of Europe said. Assets held by third parties can also be targeted, while protecting good-faith holders. The protocol requires authorities to be able to freeze or seize assets urgently, where appropriate, before they can be moved or concealed.
Asset recovery offices in every signatory state
Implementation is institutional, not just legal. The protocol requires states to establish Asset Recovery Offices to trace confiscated assets and Asset Management Offices to hold them, according to news.bitcoin.com's coverage. Those offices must cooperate directly across borders and respond to requests within set deadlines, including within three days in urgent cases, the Council of Europe said.
The protocol also strengthens the role of national financial intelligence units, giving them the ability to suspend crypto transactions if they suspect money laundering purposes, according to the crypto coverage. That turns FIUs from reporting desks into active circuit breakers for suspicious on-chain flows in signatory states.
Victims first, states split above 10,000 euros
The money recovered is handled with a fixed priority. Confiscated assets will be returned as a priority to victims or their legitimate owners, the Council of Europe said, and confiscated sums above 10,000 euros will, as a rule, be shared equally between the countries involved. States are also encouraged to use confiscated assets for social or public benefit, the Council said, turning the proceeds of crime into a benefit for communities.
The signatures open the clock but do not start it. The ministers for foreign affairs of the 46 member states adopted the Additional Protocol on May 15, 2026, at their annual session in Chisinau, according to the Council of Europe, and five ratifications are required for the protocol to enter into force, including three by Council of Europe member states. Until then, the new crypto-seizure powers exist on paper, awaiting domestic ratification in each capital that signed.
This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.
Sources
- Council of Europe, October 15, 2026, primary source: eight countries and the EU signed the Additional Protocol to the Warsaw Convention at the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg on October 14, 2026, on the first day of the Octopus conference on cybercrime; Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino and the United Kingdom were the first of the 46 Council of Europe member states to sign; the protocol lets courts confiscate property linked to wider criminal conduct in some cases without a criminal conviction, lets authorities freeze or seize assets urgently without prior notice, requires Asset Recovery and Asset Management Offices, strengthens financial intelligence units, improves access to virtual-asset data, returns confiscated assets as a priority to victims, shares confiscated sums above 10,000 euros equally between involved countries, and requires five ratifications including three by Council of Europe member states to enter into force; ministers adopted the protocol on May 15, 2026 at the Chisinau session; Alain Berset: "Criminal money sustains organised crime. It also buys what should never be for sale: our democracies. Taking that money away is democratic security," and "No state can recover criminal assets across borders on its own. With this Protocol, none will have to."
- news.bitcoin.com, October 18, 2026, secondary source: the protocol defines virtual assets and virtual asset service providers within its scope; it allows urgent confiscation of virtual assets without prior notice when there is a transaction risk; it requires Asset Recovery Offices to trace and Asset Management Offices to hold digital assets involved in illicit activities; national financial intelligence units gain the ability to suspend crypto transactions suspected of money laundering; confiscated funds above 10,000 euros are split among involved nations with provisions for public interest reuse
- CryptoSpiel, October 18, 2026, secondary source: the protocol modernizes the Warsaw Convention to bring crypto-assets and VASPs explicitly into asset recovery; urgent confiscation of virtual assets without prior notice; FIU power to suspend suspicious crypto transactions; Asset Recovery and Asset Management Office infrastructure required of signatories
- fincrimecentral, October 2026, secondary source: opened for signature October 14, 2026; eight countries plus the EU signed on day one; five ratifications including three by Council of Europe member states required for entry into force; confiscation without a criminal conviction possible in certain cases; measures extend to property held by third parties with protections for good-faith holders; urgent cooperation requests answered within three days; equal sharing rule between involved states for confiscated sums above 10,000 euros; victims and legitimate owners prioritized for restitution
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