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On October 6, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) withdrew its 2023 finding and proposed rule on international cryptocurrency mixing. FinCEN said the proposal’s broad definition could discourage legitimate activity and create a substantial reporting burden for financial institutions. The proposal never became a final rule, and the withdrawal does not end FinCEN’s scrutiny of mixer activity.
What FinCEN withdrew
FinCEN withdrew both its finding that international convertible virtual currency (CVC) mixing was a class of transactions of primary money laundering concern and the proposed rule attached to that finding. The withdrawal took effect October 6, 2026, and was published as 91 FR 63513, document 2026-20429. The notice is titled “Proposal of Special Measure Regarding Convertible Virtual Currency Mixing, as a Class of Transactions of Primary Money Laundering Concern; Withdrawal.”
The underlying proposal was published on October 23, 2023. It would have used Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act to impose a reporting measure on covered financial institutions when they knew, suspected, or had reason to suspect a transaction involved CVC mixing within or involving a jurisdiction outside the United States.
What the proposed rule would have required
The proposal defined mixing by what a service or activity did: facilitating CVC transactions in ways that obscured their source, destination, or amount, regardless of the protocol or service used. Examples in the proposal included pooling funds, coordinating transactions algorithmically, splitting transfers, using single-use wallets, exchanging asset types, and adding user-initiated delays.
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For transactions within its scope, proposed reporting details included:
- The amount and type of CVC involved
- The mixer’s name, customer-associated wallet addresses, transaction hashes, and transaction dates
- IP addresses and a narrative description of the transaction
- Customer records such as full identity, date of birth, address, email address, or unique identifying numbers
These were proposed reporting and recordkeeping obligations, not requirements that took effect. FinCEN withdrew the proposal before it was finalized.
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Why Treasury withdrew the proposal
FinCEN said it continues to believe illicit actors use mixers and other methods to hinder law-enforcement investigations. Its stated reason for withdrawal was concern raised by commenters that the proposal’s expansive definition could chill legitimate activity and impose a large reporting burden on covered institutions.
The agency also pointed to the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets’ July 2025 report, Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology. The report recognized illicit use of mixers while also noting that “lawful users of digital assets may leverage mixers to enable financial privacy when transacting through public blockchains” (p. 107).
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In the withdrawal notice, signed by FinCEN Deputy Director Jimmy L. Kirby, the agency said: “While FinCEN maintains that illicit actors continue to use mixers and other tools and methods to hinder law enforcement investigations, this withdrawal is informed by the concerns from commentors that the expansive definition of CVC mixing in the proposed rule could have a chilling effect on legitimate activity and place a large reporting burden on covered financial institutions.”
Does withdrawing the proposal make crypto mixers legal?
No. The withdrawal removes this proposed Section 311 finding and rule; it is not a declaration that every use of a mixer is lawful or free from other legal obligations. Nor does it mean FinCEN has stopped monitoring the activity. The agency said it “will continue to monitor activity involving CVC mixers for indicia of money laundering, terrorist financing, or other illicit finance activity, and may take appropriate steps in the future to mitigate any such activity.”
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What this means for banks and other covered institutions
Institutions should not treat the withdrawn proposal’s mixer-specific reporting and recordkeeping provisions as obligations that came into force. The Block’s contemporaneous account reported that the mixer proposal and a separate 2020 proposal concerning self-hosted wallets had not been finalized, so their withdrawals did not change institutions’ existing obligations. That separate wallet proposal is distinct from the mixer action covered here.
Section 311 is codified at 31 U.S.C. 5318A. It authorizes the Treasury Secretary to find that a jurisdiction, financial institution, class of transactions, or account type is of primary money laundering concern and to impose special measures on covered financial institutions. FinCEN administers this delegated authority.
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What to watch next
The notice gives no new statistical estimate of mixer use or of the withdrawal’s effects. What it does establish is a continuing agency posture: FinCEN says it will monitor mixer activity and may take future steps if it identifies money laundering, terrorist financing, or other illicit finance concerns. Any later action would be separate from the withdrawn 2023 proposal.
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