EU enacts ban on anonymous crypto transactions via self-custody wallets

[qwizzie]

In a recent regulatory change, the European Union (EU) has prohibited cryptocurrency transactions of any value made through unidentified self-custody crypto wallets. This update is a component of the region's newly implemented Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-enacts-ban-on-anonymous-crypto-transactions-via-self-custody-wallets

Additionally crypto transactions using anonymizing instruments (eg. coinjoin) or anonymizing coins to “hosted wallets” are banned completely with no threshold. This does not include transfers between individuals or to vendors for purchases.

www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1blqh7t/eu_committees_approve_cash_limits_and_ban_on/

This will in time most likely directly affect those EU users that use CoinJoin. Perhaps with the risk of users getting flagged by exchanges on those transactions where they can detect CoinJoin activities ? This will most likely make it more difficult for Dash users living in the EU to convert Dash (obfuscated through CoinJoin) to FIAT. This also means the renaming of PrivateSend to CoinJoin will be far more negative then positive for Dash, as CoinJoin usage will be specifically targetted and focused on by the EU and by those organisations (exchanges) that need to comply.

In order to ensure effective application of AML/CFT requirements to crypto-assets, it is necessary to prohibit the provision
and the custody of anonymous crypto-asset ▌accounts or accounts allowing for the anonymisation or the increased obfuscation of transactions by crypto-asset service providers, including through anonymity-enhancing coins. The prohibition does not apply to providers of hardware and software or providers of self-hosted wallets insofar as they do not possess access to or control over those crypto-assets wallets .

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/plmrep/COMMITTEES/CJ12/AG/2024/03-19/1297044EN.pdf (page 103)

If Dash is classified by the EU as an anonymity-enhancing coin, could Kraken (major FIAT gateway for European traders) and other exchanges located in the EU be forced to delist Dash and other anonymity-enhanced coins from its exchange ?

The ban on cryptocurrency payments applies specifically to unregistered wallets offered by service providers (hosted wallets), covering self-custody wallets provided via mobile, desktop, or browser applications.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-e...-crypto-transactions-via-self-custody-wallets

This part raises more questions then answers for me. I will need to see how this plays out exactly. At this point i am starting to regret having PrivateSend mixed the collateral of my masternodes, all those years ago. On the other hand this will take some time for the EU to implement (few years at least ?), so there is still time to think about what to do.

The approved laws are expected to be fully operational within three years from their entry into force. However, Dillon Eustace, an Ireland law firm expects these laws to become fully operational before the usual enforcement timeline.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-e...-crypto-transactions-via-self-custody-wallets

 

[xkcd]

It's really sad to see such a wonderful group of countries go down the sewer like this. I hope everyone under this regime goes out and loads up on as much crypto as they can while they still can. I fear these draconian measures are only a precursor to a massive devaluation of the Euro and possibly a default on their obligations. God bless.

 

[qwizzie]

It's really sad to see such a wonderful group of countries go down the sewer like this. I hope everyone under this regime goes out and loads up on as much crypto as they can while they still can. I fear these draconian measures are only a precursor to a massive devaluation of the Euro and possibly a default on their obligations. God bless.

Untill now the US has had an enforcement regulation approach with regards to crypto, while not addressing what exactly classify as a security for crypto assets. The EU on the other hand introduced a regulation frame work with regards to crypto and integrated AML regulation into it, expanding it with latest update (to prohibit the provision and the custody of anonymous crypto-asset | accounts or accounts allowing for the anonymisation or the increased obfuscation of transactions by crypto-asset service providers, including through anonymity-enhancing coins).

The US also has AML regulation, and i suspect once the US goes into really regulating crypto assets (through Congress) instead of continuing with this not working enforcement regulation approach (which just opens up the SEC to getting sued), the US could end up taking very similar decisions towards AML regulation with regards to crypto, as the EU has been doing. Because AML regulation is usually a global approach, specially between the US and the EU.

What is Anti-Money Laundering (AML)? Anti-Money Laundering (AML) includes policies, laws, and regulations to prevent criminals' financial crimes and illegal activity. Global and local regulators are established worldwide to prevent financial crimes and criminal activities, and these regulators build policies.

Source : https://sanctionscanner.com/knowledge-base/anti-money-laundering-aml-49

 

[xkcd]

Untill now the US has had an enforcement regulation approach with regards to crypto, while not addressing what exactly classify as a security for crypto assets. The EU on the other hand introduced a regulation frame work with regards to crypto and integrated AML regulation into it, expanding it with latest update (to prohibit the provision and the custody of anonymous crypto-asset | accounts or accounts allowing for the anonymisation or the increased obfuscation of transactions by crypto-asset service providers, including through anonymity-enhancing coins).

The US also has AML regulation, and i suspect once the US goes into really regulating crypto assets (through Congress) instead of continuing with this not working enforcement regulation approach (which just opens up the SEC to getting sued), the US could end up taking very similar decisions towards AML regulation with regards to crypto, as the EU has been doing. Because AML regulation is usually a global approach, specially between the US and the EU.


Source : https://sanctionscanner.com/knowledge-base/anti-money-laundering-aml-49

Yep, basically, your point is that the EU is a testing ground and these measures will make their way into the USA (Freedom) soon enough. That's very likely, in fact the US is probably the ones pulling the strings of the puppets in the EU to make this happen. I always saw this day as inevitable, the people having control of their own money is far too dangerous to government power to ignore. You see, when we sell euros to buy crypto, such as Bitcoin, we take the power away from the government to do the things they like to do like wage war, over police us and spend money on crap. If we all opted out of fiat currencies and went into gold and Bitcoin, the world would be a better place and the change would happen overnight.

 

[GrandMasterDash]

In November last year, Coindesk was reporting data sharing between 48 countries.

In December, Kraken were warning customers of locked accounts if they did not provide proof of ownership for self-hosted wallets.

That's just two examples of the warning shots fired our way. Fortunately, I was prepared for this but there's a shitload of people that are yet to enter crypto and they need educating and they need on boarding alternatives.

That list of data sharing countries will no doubt grow. We can at least predict some of them. In general, some of this can be avoided with careful, but significant, lifestyle changes

The WEF idea of "you will own nothing and be happy" does have a silver lining i.e. nomads can live like kings and, to some degree, slip between the cracks. With careful planning, two stacks can be managed with some cross pollination possible.

 

[qwizzie]

In December, Kraken were warning customers of locked accounts if they did not provide proof of ownership for self-hosted wallets.

Limited to UK customers only ? https://news.bitcoin.com/kraken-sta...lf-custody-crypto-wallet-ownership-in-the-uk/

Kraken is required by U.K. regulations to “maintain up-to-date information about our clients and their account activity regarding self-custody wallets,” which are the ones where only the owner has control of the private keys that provide access to the funds.

So this was not affecting crypto traders located in the EU ?

Of course with the new EU regulatory change to the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, this will be something that European crypto traders will face in the future, once this new regulatory change gets enforced within the EU in a few years.

 

[Dans]

Currently, there is still a struggle regarding the possession and spending of cryptocurrencies in Europe. The fiscal control of some countries, among which I live, is reaching limits that exceed logic.

For example, taxes are now beginning to be required for the sale of used clothing if it exceeds a certain amount. We all know that in general used clothing loses value, therefore there is a loss not a capital gain.

When many think that the system will allow the use of crypto anonymously, they are dreaming, no totalitarian legislation will allow this.

Here the problem lies in whether two systems can coexist, the current one, fully controlled from party to party, and the cryptographic one, where the parties decide the level of privacy of the transaction.

All of this will lead countries to practically cancel the use of cash and anonymous cryptography, especially within the European Union. A Union where today even freedom of expression is censored, and it is intended to force declarations of payments of more than €1,000, or prohibit cash payments that exceed it, even knowing that this money is completely legal.

In a few years the moment of truth will arrive, a time where BTC holders who have been making great profits in the shadows for years will be forced either to be unable to use their coins, or to look for alternatives in friendly third countries.

Consider that where I live, for example, not saying that you have an amount greater than €50,000 on an exchange is a crime, and the penalty would be 2.5 times the fine of the undeclared capital.

A BTC holder with, for example, 10 BTC who has not declared it, would practically be a prosecutable criminal, when his only crime was having a good idea at one point in his life.

Rest assured that any seller who accepts crypto will be forced to make nominal invoices and the origin of that money. This will force anyone who does not have an identified wallet to automatically stop using it for personal purchases in transparent businesses.

Learn to identify the enemy and act accordingly.

 

[GrandMasterDash]

The MO of their evil. Through data sharing, the taxman knows you have X at location Y, and then they check to see if you declared it. No declaration makes you a liar and a criminal even though you never did any wrong. Which is weird because the US gov knew exactly how much egold I had and decided, to keep it anyway. I guess that is their next move, to just automatically confiscate all undeclared custodial accounts.

This is why I don't approve of any data privacy laws "to protect me", because someone somewhere is always given exception.

 

[User777]

Don't let yourself be made fools.
I'm in DASH because there are a lot of smart, free people here.
How much does freedom cost? How much are you willing to pay for freedom?
Friends! You will have to negotiate and pay for freedom and listing on OKX

 

[AgnewPickens]

Currently, there is still a struggle regarding the possession and spending of cryptocurrencies in Europe. The fiscal control of some countries, among which I live, is reaching limits that exceed logic.

For example, taxes are now beginning to be required for the sale of used clothing if it exceeds a certain amount. We all know that in general used clothing loses value, therefore there is a loss not a capital gain.

When many think that the system will allow the use of crypto anonymously, they are dreaming, no totalitarian legislation will allow this.

Here the problem lies in whether two systems can coexist, the current one, fully controlled from party to party, and the cryptographic one, where the parties decide the level of privacy of the transaction.

All of this will lead countries to practically cancel the use of cash and anonymous cryptography, especially within the European Union. A Union where today even freedom of expression is censored, and it is intended to force declarations of payments of more than €1,000, or prohibit cash payments that exceed it, even knowing that this money is completely legal.

In a few years the moment of truth will arrive, a time where BTC holders who have been making great profits in the shadows for years will be forced either to be unable to use their coins, or to look for alternatives in friendly third countries.

Consider that where I live, for example, not saying that you have an amount greater than €50,000 on an exchange is a crime, and the penalty would be 2.5 times the fine of the undeclared capital.

A BTC holder with, for example, 10 BTC who has not declared it, would practically be a prosecutable criminal, when his only crime was having a good idea at one point in his life.

Rest assured that any seller who accepts crypto will be forced to make nominal invoices and the origin of that money. This will force anyone who does not have an identified wallet to automatically stop using it for personal purchases in transparent businesses.

Learn to identify the enemy and act accordingly.

EU is doing this because their economies are in shambles and there are concerns over capital flight, like we saw with China, etc. Their economies are going to collapse with or without these measures and the populations will look for alternatives to survive. Crypto will be just fine.

 

[Dans]

EU is doing this because their economies are in shambles and there are concerns over capital flight, like we saw with China, etc. Their economies are going to collapse with or without these measures and the populations will look for alternatives to survive. Crypto will be just fine.

Correct. I have been watching what happens with macroeconomics for years, in fact it is my job. Starting in 2008, the EU began to break up at high speed, production shifted to Asia, and to Eastern countries, completely deindustrializing countries like France or Germany.

The European future involves depending economically on external financing and supporting the dollar as faithful servants. On the other hand, the growing interest in dividing Eastern Europe from Western Europe increasingly demonstrates that the Cold War never ended.

I recommend every EU citizen to have financial availability in external countries like the USA, including possessing physical Gold, and of course crypto.

Before 2030, citizen freedoms, especially economic ones, will be very limited and very controlled. The key to all this will be to maintain a euro strong enough to continue importing oil and technological products, above all.

But a strong Euro implies serving the USA, and serving the USA implies getting involved in conflicts that Europe is not interested in at all.

We will see if social sanity wins, even if manipulated by the media, or if a unilateral centralized government dependent on the debt mission continues to impose itself to satisfy its henchmen.

 

[Imeling58]

Currently, there is still a struggle regarding the possession and spending of cryptocurrencies in Europe. The fiscal control of some countries, among which I live, is reaching limits that exceed logic.

For example, taxes are now beginning to be required for the sale of used clothing if it exceeds a certain amount. We all know that in general used clothing loses value, therefore there is a loss not a capital gain.

When many think that the system will allow the use of crypto anonymously, they are dreaming, no totalitarian legislation will allow this.

Here the problem lies in whether two systems can coexist, the current one, fully controlled from party to party, and the cryptographic one, where the parties decide the level of privacy of the transaction.

All of this will lead countries to practically cancel the use of cash and anonymous cryptography, especially within the European Union. A Union where today even freedom of expression is censored, and it is intended to force declarations of payments of more than €1,000, or prohibit cash payments that exceed it, even knowing that this money is completely legal.

In a few years the moment of truth will arrive, a time where BTC holders who have been making great profits in the shadows for years will be forced either to be unable to use their coins, or to look for alternatives in friendly third countries.

Consider that where I live, for example, not saying that you have an amount greater than €50,000 on an exchange is a crime, and the penalty would be 2.5 times the fine of the undeclared capital.

A BTC holder with, for example, accept bitcoin payments not declared it, would practically be a prosecutable criminal, when his only crime was having a good idea at one point in his life.

Rest assured that any seller who accepts crypto will be forced to make nominal invoices and the origin of that money. This will force anyone who does not have an identified wallet to automatically stop using it for personal purchases in transparent businesses.

Learn to identify the enemy and act accordingly.

It will be interesting to see how these issues develop. While regulations may limit anonymity, some companies are starting to openly accept bitcoin payments. This could open the door to more widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies even with stricter regulations.