DARTE Goes Digital: Kicking Off Our Webinar Series with Tigran Rostomyan on AML Realities in Crypto

After 18 months of running high-level, in-person roundtables across Europe and Latin America, the DARTE Series has officially entered the online world and we couldn’t have asked for a better first guest. In our inaugural webinar, we were joined by Tigran Rostomyan, Founder and CEO of AML Incubator, for an eye-opening deep dive into the realities of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance in the crypto space starting with the Canadian regulatory landscape.

Co-hosted by Mariana de la Roche Wills and Dr. Nina-Luisa Siedler, this first session marked the beginning of DARTE's Season 1: Global AML Perspectives, supported by AML Incubator and featuring compliance leaders from every region of the world.

• Why Start with Canada?

Tigran walked us through why Canada has quietly become a launchpad for crypto companies globally. With a straightforward MSB (Money Services Business) registration regime, a history of FATF alignment, and regulatory clarity in areas where many other jurisdictions still waffle, Canada offers a relatively accessible but robust entry point into North America and often beyond.

And yet, the Canadian system is not without gaps, beneficial ownership, real estate-based money laundering, and inter-provincial regulatory inconsistencies were just a few of the issues flagged in recent FATF evaluations, and covered in depth during the session.

• MSBs: Easier to Enter, Harder to Maintain

One of the biggest takeaways from the webinar was the contrast between ease of registration and the challenge of ongoing compliance. While it’s relatively easy to register as an MSB in Canada, there’s no "license," just a registration, the real test comes after. “You need to always be ready for an audit,” Tigran warned. “It might come within two months, or never. But if it comes, you're expected to be ready.”

And readiness means robust internal policies, real-time risk assessments, proper recordkeeping, and a competent compliance officer at the helm. Failing to meet these obligations can result in massive fines, or worse.

• NFT Platforms, Solana, and the Undetected Risk

Tigran also gave us an overview into what AMLI is doing on the frontier: monitoring trading on NFT platforms and indexing the Solana network, one of the least-mapped ecosystems in crypto. “We’re the only firm right now globally that can catch wash trading on NFT platforms,” he shared, bringing  light on compliance blind spots that regulators are often unaware of.

It was a moment that perfectly captured the spirit of DARTE: real talk from real practitioners solving today’s regulatory challenges, not just theorizing about them.

Watch the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR7wg6DcPeM

🖤 Powered by BlackVogel, siedler legal, AML Incubator & Project Catalyst with the support of the EU Commission