Crypto moves fast. Hackers move faster. Compliance? Not always.
In this episode of Money Rewired by CoinsPaid Media, Lex Fisun — CEO and Co-founder of Global Ledger — breaks down how crypto compliance, money laundering, and risk management really work heading into 2026. Speaking with Murat Prokopov, Strategic Partnerships Executive at CoinsPaid, Fisun explains why hackers need days, while compliance processes often take months, and what that mismatch means for crypto businesses operating in the US and EU.
This conversation goes beyond regulation headlines. It explores how money laundering in crypto actually works, why DeFi technologies are so hard to regulate, and why compliance is no longer just a defensive necessity — but a strategic advantage.
The full episode is available now on the CoinsPaid Media YouTube channel:
Hackers Need 6 Days. Compliance Needs Months
One of the most striking insights from the episode is the speed gap between cybercrime and prevention.
“Hackers, on average, need about 6.5 days to launder your money. In one out of five cases, they start laundering before the hack becomes public,” says Lex Fisun.
To understand what money laundering is in crypto, you need to understand incentives. According to Fisun, laundering stolen funds on-chain is often cheap, fast, and scalable, while compliance tools are slow, resource-intensive, and prone to false positives.
Global Ledger addresses this by focusing on high-assurance risk detection — not average scoring, but signals that can withstand regulatory and legal scrutiny. This approach reduces operational friction for compliant users while targeting genuinely high-risk activity.
Money Laundering in Crypto: The “Dragon and Parasite” Model
Fisun uses a memorable metaphor to explain modern crypto risk management.
Businesses chasing growth face two threats:
- Parasites — money launderers abusing liquidity
- The dragon — regulators
“If you feed the dragon with parasites, you pass,” Fisun explains. Instead of fighting regulators, companies can use compliance as a filter — removing illicit activity and positioning themselves as trustworthy ecosystem players.
For founders and builders, this reframes compliance from a cost center into a risk management process that protects long-term growth, licensing, and access to banking rails.
Listen full episode → Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts
DeFi Technologies and the Regulatory Blind Spot
A major challenge for policymakers in both the US and EU is understanding how DeFi technologies actually function.
Centralized platforms can block deposits, freeze assets, or reject withdrawals. DeFi protocols can’t.
“In DeFi, deposit, exchange, and withdrawal are often a single, unrejectable transaction,” Fisun notes. “No one controls it — not even the person who wrote the code.”
This technical reality explains why regulations like MiCA struggled early on. According to Fisun, 2025 became a year of “vocabulary synchronization,” where regulators finally began aligning legal frameworks with how blockchain systems actually work.
AI, Risk Management, and Why Context Matters
Risk scores alone don’t help compliance teams make decisions — especially when they lack historical context.
Global Ledger uses AI not just for detection, but for risk storytelling. Instead of presenting a number, their tools explain why an entity is risky — whether it’s linked to past scams, sanctioned exchanges, or known laundering patterns.
“Some people don’t know what Bitconnect was,” Fisun explains. “Context in story form is critical.”
For compliance officers managing thousands of alerts, this turns AI into a prioritization engine, not just another data source.
“Be Your Own Bank” Also Means Being the Bouncer
The episode also tackles a less discussed consequence of crypto adoption: personal responsibility.
“Freedom sounds nice until you realize you’re also the police,” Fisun says. “You’re not just in the club — you’re the bouncer.”
As exchanges tighten source-of-funds checks, individuals must increasingly understand how money laundering works, how their funds are traced, and why assets can be frozen even without criminal intent.
2026 Outlook: Stablecoins and Real-World Assets
Looking ahead, Lex Fisun highlights two trends reshaping crypto risk and compliance:
Stablecoin Settlement
Current crypto payment cards still rely on fiat rails, with fees often reaching 1.5–3%. Fisun predicts a shift toward stablecoin-native settlement, making crypto payments cheaper and faster than traditional systems.
Real-World Asset Tokenization
Unlike the failed “security token” wave, today’s regulatory clarity — especially in the EU — makes tokenizing real estate, infrastructure, and data centers increasingly viable.
Why This Episode Matters
This episode of Money Rewired offers a grounded look at crypto compliance in 2026, stripping away hype to focus on how money laundering, regulation, and risk management actually work on-chain.
For founders, compliance teams, investors, and anyone trying to understand where crypto is heading, the message is clear: compliance isn’t about survival anymore — it’s about strategy.
