Organized crime gangs in Ireland are renting private vaults to store cryptocurrency private keys and seed phrases, according to the head of the Criminal Assets Bureau, Ireland's asset-seizure agency.
Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins said the practice emerged from the bureau's investigations and has been reported to Ireland's Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee. Vault contents alongside crypto keys include cash, luxury watches, handbags, and passports.
The disclosure comes as Ireland prepares for new European Union anti-money laundering rules scheduled for next summer. The EU rules will ban cash transactions above €10,000 and require businesses to identify anyone spending €3,000 or more in cash. Crypto-asset service providers, luxury goods retailers, and crowdfunding platforms will face tighter supervision under the new regulations.
Gubbins said gangs believe cryptocurrency provides anonymity and helps spread risk of asset seizure. However, he noted that criminal use of crypto in Ireland remains "still quite basic," with cash remaining the dominant form of money in illegal activities like drug trafficking.
The bureau has identified other money laundering methods in use, including hawala operators—informal transfer systems where cash deposited in one country is paid out in another without crossing borders. Gubbins estimated commissions for such services at roughly 6%. In one investigation, the bureau seized €230,000 from a safe deposit box at a private vault company.
The Criminal Assets Bureau is working through its largest cryptocurrency seizure, involving 6,000 BTC taken from a cannabis grower in 2019. The bureau cracked the first of 12 wallets in March with Europol's assistance. More than €130 million of the €360 million holding has been realized, according to Gubbins. The bureau returned almost €15 million to the Irish exchequer last year.
