EU AMLR 2027 and Monero: Delistings, Kraken Limits, What's Legal

Fewer than nine months remain before the EU’s single anti-money-laundering rulebook takes full effect. Its best-known provision for crypto users is a ban on regulated providers handling “anonymity-enhancing coins” such as Monero, starting 10 July 2027. Meanwhile the practical squeeze is already here. Most EU platforms have dropped XMR, and in 2026 Kraken, one of the last large exchanges still listing it, tightened and then partly relaxed its XMR controls. This report sets out what the law actually says, what has happened on exchanges, and what is still legal.

What the AMLR is

The Anti-Money Laundering Regulation, (EU) 2024/1624, was adopted in May 2024 as part of the EU’s AML package. Unlike earlier directives, it is a regulation. It applies directly in every member state without national transposition, and it applies in full from 10 July 2027.

The package also created the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), based in Frankfurt. AMLA coordinates national supervisors and will directly supervise a set of high-risk cross-border firms, which may include large crypto-asset service providers. According to a July 2026 explainer from LeoDex, AMLA’s first selection of directly supervised entities is expected around July 2027 and may cover up to 40 firms.

What Article 79 prohibits

Article 79 is the clause behind the “privacy coin ban” headlines. Based on two independent 2026 analyses:

• Who it binds: credit institutions, financial institutions and crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). In AML terms these are “obliged entities”.
• What they can’t do: keep anonymous accounts, or crypto-asset accounts that allow transactions to be anonymised, including accounts holding anonymity-enhancing coins. Both analyses name Monero and Zcash as examples, and one also lists Dash.
• In practice: a regulated exchange or custodian in the EU can’t list, hold or facilitate trading in XMR for customers once the rule applies.

Related provisions in the package include an EU-wide €10,000 cap on cash payments and identity checks on crypto transfers of €1,000 or more. Details of edge cases are still being written. LeoDex notes that the European Banking Authority is drafting technical standards that will clarify the grey areas.

What the AMLR does not do

This is the part that most headlines skip.

Key point: “Banned in the EU” really means “banned from regulated EU intermediaries.” It doesn’t make holding or using Monero a crime. Your own country’s tax and reporting rules still apply.

The delisting backdrop

The AMLR deadline is the formal end point of a trend that is already well advanced in Europe.

Some outlets have cited a figure of 73 exchange delistings in 2025. We couldn’t trace it to a primary dataset, so treat it as an approximate, widely repeated estimate rather than a verified count.

Dubai: a template for other financial centres?

The Dubai Financial Services Authority announced in December 2025 that it would ban privacy tokens in the Dubai International Financial Centre. The ban took effect on 12 January 2026, covering their use, promotion, trading and fund activity within or from the DIFC, Stocktwits reported that day. The regulator cited heightened AML and sanctions compliance risks. XMR set a new record high the same day, which suggests the market had largely priced in such moves.

Kraken in 2026: caps, questionnaires and a U-turn

Kraken is still one of the best-known large exchanges listing XMR outside the EEA, so its policies were closely watched in 2026.

15 August 2026: rolling 30-day limits

CryptoSlate reported that from 15 August 2026 Kraken introduced rolling 30-day XMR limits:

October 2026: the questionnaire backlash

During the autumn, some customers who bought XMR and withdrew it to their own wallets received emails asking about their employer, source of funds and what they intended to do with the coins. On 24 October 2026, co-CEO Arjun Sethi said no regulation required those post-withdrawal questions. He told affected customers they didn’t need to respond and said Kraken would drop the spending question from its procedures. He summed up the line Kraken was drawing: “What you do with it after it leaves is not” a fair question.

Sethi also confirmed that XMR stays listed on Kraken.

What did not change, per CryptoSlate:

• Source-of-funds and source-of-wealth checks stay in Kraken’s policy, and it may still ask for bank statements or investment records.
• The article didn’t report any change to the August withdrawal caps.

Coin Edition, reporting the same day, noted separately that Kraken has restricted XMR trading for Canadian customers, with no date given in its report.

Tip: If you buy XMR on any regulated exchange, assume your purchase is linked to your identity forever. Withdraw to a wallet you control, and read our Privacy & OpSec guides on separating KYC-linked coins from everyday spending.

Has regulation reduced Monero use?

Not according to blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs. Cointelegraph reported on 17 February 2026 that TRM Labs found:

• Monero transaction activity in 2024 and 2025 stayed above pre-2022 levels, despite delistings.
• 48% of newly launched darknet markets in 2025 supported only Monero, a notable increase on earlier years.
• About 14–15% of Monero nodes behaved unusually, with odd timing and connections clustered on particular servers. The report said this doesn’t mean the network was hacked. These are the spy-node patterns that recent Monero releases try to blunt.

Those findings point both ways. Usage is resilient, but the darknet statistics are exactly the evidence regulators cite when they justify restrictions.

What EU users can do before July 2027

1. Don’t panic-sell because of headlines. The AMLR doesn’t touch coins in self-custody.
2. Move XMR off EU custodial platforms well before the deadline if any still hold it for you. Past delistings have come with conversion or withdrawal windows.
3. Learn the non-custodial routes now. Peer-to-peer and decentralized options such as Haveno-based exchanges, atomic swaps and non-custodial swap protocols are covered in our Buy, Sell & Swap section. Check each service’s security record, as 2026 has shown these routes carry their own risks.
4. Keep records. Tax obligations don’t disappear with an exchange listing. Note acquisition dates and prices.
5. Watch the EBA technical standards. They’ll settle questions like how “decentralized” a protocol must be to fall outside the rules.

What to watch before July 2027

• EBA technical standards. These will define edge cases such as how “decentralized” a protocol must be to fall outside the CASP definition, and how self-hosted wallet verification works in practice.
• AMLA’s first direct-supervision list, expected around July 2027. Large exchanges on that list will face the strictest oversight.
• Remaining EU custodial holdings. Any EU platform still holding XMR for customers will have to wind that down. Watch for withdrawal or conversion notices, and act on them early.
• Exchange policies outside the EU. Kraken’s 30-day caps and any further regional restrictions are a sign of how global platforms will treat XMR as more rules arrive.
• Copycat rules. Dubai’s DIFC moved first in 2026. Other financial centres may follow.

Bottom line

The EU’s 10 July 2027 deadline is real, but it is narrower than its nickname suggests. It closes regulated EU on-ramps to Monero, most of which had already closed. It doesn’t ban ownership. Outside the EU, 2026 brought mixed signals: Dubai’s DIFC ban, and Kraken tightening limits and then publicly backing down on intrusive questions while keeping XMR listed. Expect more friction at the fiat edges of the ecosystem, and more activity moving to self-custody and peer-to-peer channels.