- The EU parliament, commission, and Council open discussions on implementing new crypto laws
- The new laws will see exchanges forced to verify information of platform transactors, even if they are not registered
- The new laws could be in place by 2024
Talks between the EU parliament, commission, and Council begin today on controversial new rules regarding cryptocurrency transactions. The EU parliament voted last month to massively increase the oversight on cryptocurrency transactions, and discussions begin today on how to implement this framework, which critics have warned could kill privacy and stifle innovation in the EU.
TFR Rule Passed Last Month
The debate over anonymous cryptocurrency transactions is as old as the cryptocurrency space itself, with lawmakers really sitting up and taking note in 2019 when the Travel Rule, which requires that transactions over 1,000 EUR in value be accompanied by information on the transacting parties, was amended to incorporate cryptocurrency transactions.
The EU’s version of this, called the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR), passed a vote 58/52 on March 31 and meant that exchanges must collect and verify information of anyone involved in a transaction that goes through their platform, even if the sender or recipient is not a customer.
New Crypto Laws Could be in Place by 2024
With complaints over privacy and the data honeypots that would be created as a result ignored, attention now turns to what the final form of the law will be, and today’s talks mark the beginning of the end of the three-year effort to curb private crypto usage.
Crypto policy expert Patrick Hansen issued a warning last month when he said that the member states that make up the European Council seem to be on the “same page” with the EU Parliament on the issue of anonymous crypto wallets, meaning that it could see a smoother passage through to the next vote, and potentially into law sooner rather than later.
EU Parliament lawmakers want to see a phasing in of the new rules between nine and 18 months, while the EU Council says the new rules should wait for crypto licensing legislation to take effect first, and then apply only two years after the separate Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) is finalized. This legislation, too, is currently in its closing stages of negotiation.
