The European Union tightens control over the movement of cryptoassets

The European Commission plans to block anonymous cryptocurrency transfers and track transactions over € 1,000.

A draft regulation of the European Union has been prepared, which establishes the rules for collecting and storing information about payers and recipients of cryptoassets, as well as senders and beneficiaries accompanying transfers of cryptoassets.

The provisions of the regulation are applied in order to prevent, detect and investigate the facts of money laundering and terrorist financing, if at least one payment or cryptoasset, supplier or intermediary involved in the transfer of cryptoassets originates from the territory of the European Union.

“Today’s amendments will ensure full traceability of transfers of cryptoassets such as bitcoins, and will allow them to detect and prevent their possible use in money laundering or terrorist financing,” the EC said.

Additional EU requirements apply to transfers or a series of linked transfers for amounts exceeding EUR 1,000.

All transfers of cryptoassets must be accompanied by the sender’s name and account number, if such an account exists and is used to process the transaction. Include the sender’s address, official personal document number, customer identification number, or date and place of birth.

The regulation obliges financial service providers to provide effective control procedures, including, where appropriate, follow-up or real-time monitoring.

Since criminal investigations may not be able to quickly establish the required data or the persons involved in the transaction, payment services will be required to keep records of transaction information for five years. Anonymous wallets are proposed to be completely banned.

The last word on the proposals will remain with the European Parliament. It can take up to two years before proposals become law.