Share this article
EU Lawmakers to Vote on Blocking Anonymous Crypto Payments, Documents Show
The European Parliament also wants to curb payments to tax havens and check people’s identity even for payments between unhosted wallets.
Updated May 11, 2023, 5:14 p.m. Published Mar 25, 2022, 6:32 p.m.
Make us preferred on GoogleMembers of the European Parliament are likely to vote to end the anonymity of even small crypto payments at a committee meeting to be held next week, documents seen by CoinDesk show.
Lawmakers at the Economic Affairs Committee are also poised to include crypto transfers to self-hosted or private wallets (also referred to as unhosted wallets) in anti-money laundering (AML) checks, and want to halt crypto transfers between the EU and jurisdictions like Turkey and Hong Kong.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Under existing laws, payees need to be identified for any bank transfer over EUR 1,000 ($1,099). The bloc’s national governments have already said they want to scrap that lower limit when extending the rules to crypto assets – on the basis that large transactions could just be broken up into smaller ones, a practice known as "smurfing."
Urged by national laundering officials, who cite crypto’s use in funding terrorism and child abuse, lawmakers seem set to agree to require identity checks for any size of crypto payment. Even the right-wing lawmakers who oppose the move to de-anonymize transactions appear to acknowledge they won’t win the vote.
Internal parliament documents seen by CoinDesk, dated March 25 suggest lawmakers will also tell crypto service providers to refrain from making or aiding any transfers deemed at high risk of money laundering or crime.
That will in practice make it harder, or perhaps impossible, to make transfers from the EU to anywhere deemed by the bloc as a tax haven, such as the U.S. and U.K. Virgin Islands, Turkey, Russia or Hong Kong, or places like Iran and the Cayman Islands seen as dirty-money hotspots.
Assita Kanko, one of the lead lawmakers responsible for marshalling the parliament’s views on the law, also said Tuesday she wants to extend the measures to include privately held crypto assets, in spite of uncertainty over how transactions between unhosted wallets could be enforced.
Read more: European Parliament Proposes Expanding 'Travel Rule' to Every Single Crypto Transaction
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
SEC chair says 'time is right' for pension funds to include crypto, CFTC head says digital assets set to flourish
SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Mike Selig said they are working with the Senate to get a crypto market structure bill over the line.
What to know:
- SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the "time is right" for 401(k) plans to include cryptocurrency, provided it is done in a measured way with guardrails to protect retirees.
- The remarks came as the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a draft crypto market structure bill that would expand the CFTC's role and clarify its oversight boundaries with the SEC, though the legislation still faces a long road to becoming law.
- CFTC Chair Michael Selig predicted digital assets will "flourish" under forthcoming U.S. rules, arguing that clear national standards could bring blockchain firms back onshore and make the U.S. a premier hub for crypto markets.
Top Stories
