Documents Show That EU Lawmakers Will Vote On Blocking Anonymous Cryptocurrency Payments.

At a committee meeting next week, members of the European Parliament are expected to vote to limit the anonymity of even tiny crypto payments.

Crypto transfers to self-hosted or private wallets (also known as unhosted wallets) will be included in anti-money laundering (AML) inspections by lawmakers on the Economic Affairs Committee, and crypto transactions between the EU and places such as Turkey and Hong Kong would be prohibited.

Payees must be named for each bank transfer exceeding EUR 1,000 ($1,099) under current legislation. When it comes to crypto assets, the EU’s national governments have already said that they want to remove that lower restriction, arguing that large transactions could simply be divided up into smaller ones, a technique known as “smurfing.”

National money laundering officials have pressed lawmakers to demand identification checks for all crypto payments, citing crypto’s involvement in supporting terrorism and child abuse. Even those on the right who oppose the plan to de-anonymize transactions appear to recognize that they will lose the vote.

Internal parliament papers obtained on March 25 reveal that legislators would also instruct crypto service providers to desist from conducting or assisting any transfers regarded to be high risk of money laundering or criminal activity.

In fact, this will make it more difficult, if not impossible, to move funds from the EU to tax havens such as the US and UK Virgin Islands, Turkey, Russia, or Hong Kong, as well as dirty-money hotspots such as Iran and the Cayman Islands.

Despite the confusion about how transactions between unhosted wallets may be enforced, Assita Kanko, one of the key legislators charged with marshalling the parliament’s opinions on the bill, said Tuesday she wanted to extend the regulations to encompass privately owned crypto assets.

Join CoinCu Telegram to keep track of news: https://t.me/coincunews

Follow CoinCu Youtube Channel | Follow CoinCu Facebook page

Patrick

CoinCu News