UAE toughens fight against money laundering through cryptocurrency real estate

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said that real estate agents must report to anti-money laundering authorities any real estate transactions paid for with cryptocurrency. The announcement was made on Monday.

Some real estate developers in the country have announced they will start accepting bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) payments as companies such as Bybit, Kraken, Binance and Crypto.com look to set up offices in new cryptocurrency hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The new rules require all real estate transactions to be immediately reported to the Financial Intelligence Service, which is responsible for tracking illegal financial transactions. Also, these rules will apply if the buyer tries to pay cash for more than AED 55,000 (about $15,000). The government has not specified a threshold for virtual assets, meaning that even the smallest bitcoin transactions will be monitored.

The global anti-money laundering organization, the Financial Action Group on Money Laundering, is trying to crack down on the use of cryptocurrency to launder the proceeds of crime or finance terrorism, including through the "movement rule," a controversial way of identifying and tracking payers.

These new measures aim to prevent manipulation and illegal activities that could negatively impact the working environment, economy and investment in the real estate and legal sectors, UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Tuqa Al Marri said.

The UAE authorities are thus seeking to ensure transparency and security in financial transactions in the real estate sector and deter possible money laundering attempts through the use of cryptocurrency.