EU Cracks Down on Anonymous Crypto Transactions with Landmark Directive

The European Union has unveiled a groundbreaking regulation that prohibits all transactions via anonymous, private cryptocurrency wallets, regardless of the transaction’s value. A spokesperson for the European Parliament disclosed that this directive garnered the endorsement of a significant majority within the EU Parliament’s leading committee last Thursday.

This novel regulation, designed to thwart money laundering activities, introduces stringent restrictions on cash transactions and entirely forbids anonymous dealings in cryptocurrencies. It specifically criminalizes any cash transactions exceeding €10,000 and any anonymous cash transactions above €3,000. EU Legislation The measure focuses on curtailing transactions between private, unregistered crypto wallets and regulated financial entities, significantly restricting their utility owing to the intrinsic anonymous and permissionless nature of cryptocurrency networks.

It demands increased scrutiny over the transfer of cryptocurrency assets and obligates crypto enterprises to adopt comprehensive due diligence protocols to prevent money laundering. The regulation broadens the range of entities obligated to comply, enveloping a vast section of the crypto industry, thereby enforcing extensive checks on customer backgrounds.

Moreover, the legislation stresses the importance of maintaining meticulous records of the actual beneficiaries, with the goal of uncovering the genuine owners or individuals in control of legal entities. This effort mandates an array of organizations, including banking institutions, real estate companies, and crypto firms, to enhance their customer verification mechanisms.

The introduction of these regulations by the EU marks a significant transformation in the handling, provision, and exchange of cryptocurrencies within the region. In response to the impending MiCA regulations affecting stablecoins, leading cryptocurrency exchange OKX recently announced it would cease listing USDT trading pairs in the European market.

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