Spain's government has approved a draft law that would bring bitcoin and crypto exchanges under the same state financial surveillance system already applied to banks, a move that expands the reach of tax and security authorities into the crypto sector. The anteproyecto was cleared on July 28 and is now open for public consultation until September 30, 2026, before the government evaluates the responses and sends the proposal to Congress and the Senate.
The mechanism at the centre of the reform is the Fichero de Titularidades Financieras, a centralised database that has tracked bank account holders in Spain for more than a decade under the oversight of SEPBLAC, the executive service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offences. The draft law would extend this obligation to crypto exchanges, which would need to declare the opening and closing of accounts held by their users.
Who gets access, and to what
Under the proposed framework, the registry would be managed by a new body, the Autoridad Nacional de Integridad Financiera (ANIFI). Direct access would be granted to the Policía Nacional, the Guardia Civil, the Agencia Tributaria, judges, prosecutors and the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI). These bodies would be able to confirm the existence of a crypto account without having to issue individual requests to each exchange, a change from the current process.
The data exchanges would be required to report includes the identity of the holder and any co-holders, the custody firm involved, the category of asset held, and the dates of operations. The proposal explicitly excludes access to available balances and detailed account movements, limiting what authorities can see through the registry itself.
Aligning with global anti-money-laundering standards
The government has framed the reform as an effort to bring Spanish law into line with standards set by the Grupo de Acción Financiera Internacional (GAFI), the international body that sets global benchmarks for preventing money laundering and terrorism financing. The obligation to report account data would not be limited to crypto exchanges; it would also extend to fund managers, investment companies, venture capital entities and securities agencies operating in Spain's broader financial sector.
The measure still has a long path ahead. Following the close of the public consultation period, the government must review the reports submitted before the bill can be formally introduced in Congress and the Senate, where it will face further debate and possible amendment.
