Spain makes ID checks mandatory at all crypto ATMs, no matter the amount

Spain's Ministry of Economy has approved a royal decree requiring anyone withdrawing cash from a crypto ATM in Spain to identify themselves, with no minimum amount. The rule also requires verifying that the holder of an online gambling account matches the payment method used.

The Ministry of Economy has pushed through a package of changes to anti-money laundering legislation by royal decree. The most striking measure: identification is now required to withdraw cash from a crypto ATM, whether it's 20 euros or 20,000. Until now, these machines worked with a scan of your digital wallet and few questions asked. The fee for converting crypto into cash hovers around **10%**, a steep price many accepted precisely because there was no need to explain anything. Those days are over.

## Nearly 300 crypto ATMs in Spain and a 10% fee

The crypto ATM tracker Coin ATM shows there are almost **300** of these physical kiosks in Spain. **51** are in Madrid and **65** in Barcelona. To use them, the owner scans the digital wallet holding their crypto and the machine hands over banknotes. The fee, as mentioned, sits around **10%**, far above what a conventional ATM charges. That premium had an explanation: until now, it saved a lot of questions.

For other transactions, mandatory identification still applies above **1,000 euros** in cash. For lottery or gambling winnings, the threshold rises to **2,500 euros**. The novelty is that crypto ATMs have no threshold at all: any amount requires identification.

Crypto assets are particularly attractive to incivil because of their ability to hide the user's identity. Industry data is stark: crypto assets moved **$158 billion** (around **137 billion euros**) in illicit flows last year, according to a report by the analytics firm **TRM Labs**. The figure was boosted by the use of artificial intelligence. Dirty money enters the crypto system through the least-controlled channels: ATMs, peer-to-peer transactions and platforms with poor security or based in loosely supervised jurisdictions. In Spain there have been several police operations against networks that used ATMs to place cash from drug trafficking.

## The new National Financial Integrity Authority

The decree is complemented by a planned law creating the new **National Financial Integrity Authority (Anifi)**. It is a draft bill left in limbo until the new Government arrives. It includes the obligation for investment fund managers, private equity firms, securities agencies and firms, and crypto asset platforms to report client details.

Once the law is passed, all these entities will have to disclose account openings and closings, not just bank accounts. The register will reveal the account holder, the institution where it is held, the type —cash, securities or crypto—, the opening and closing dates and any joint holders. It will not, however, include information on balances or transactions.

Even if the Government changes, the experts consulted rule out major shifts. The rule transposes the European anti-money laundering package, whose core is a directly applicable regulation that Spain cannot alter.

## Online betting: verifying that the player is the one who pays

Online gambling will also have to verify that the account holder is the same as the holder of the payment method used to play. It makes no difference whether it's a deposit, a fund transfer or a bet. The same applies to anyone collecting winnings. The measure has a **six-month** adaptation period and aims to prevent identity impersonation fraud.

Complaints had been collected from people saying their payment methods had been used to gamble on these platforms. In some cases, the transfer was made with consent, as a way of renting out a gambling account. The Ministry of Social Rights recorded more than **8,600** complaints in **2025**, according to its latest published report, from victims of identity impersonation in online gambling. The count was made possible by a new victim protection system.

Most of the fraud was concentrated in sports betting, with strong growth in online casinos. The ministry believes that up to **8%** of minors who cannot access these online betting sites end up impersonating an adult. Around **4%** of taxpayers who declared winnings from internet gambling had suffered identity impersonation.

## Digital ID and control of international embargoes

The decree, which does not require parliamentary approval, includes other measures transposing European rules. One is the acceptance of the **digital DNI** (Spain's national ID card) as a means of identification. Another allows public administrations to pay by credit card. The text also tightens the measures a bank must take to ensure that individuals or companies under international sanctions cannot operate through its accounts.

The rule arrives amid growing regulatory pressure on crypto assets in Europe. The European anti-money laundering regulation applies directly and Spain cannot modify it, which limits any government's room for manoeuvre. Identification at crypto ATMs is just one piece of a larger puzzle pointing to the same goal: making digital money stop being an opaque zone.

If you trade in crypto or gamble online, it is worth consulting a tax or legal adviser before assuming you know the rules of the game.