Bitcoin Forum

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have proposed amending a directive on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing that will require cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets to identify suspicious activity, a directive that would include identifying bitcoin users.

The directive constitutes the main legal instrument to prevent the EU financial system from being used for money laundering and terrorist financing. The directive, to be transposed by June 26, 2017, establishes a framework to require member states to identify and mitigate risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing.

Technology has created alternatives for financing that are beyond the scope of EU legislation that should no longer be justified, the proposal [PDF] noted. To keep pace with evolving trends, new measures to improve the existing preventive framework are needed.

Cryptocurrencies Addressed

As of May 2015, the directive made no mention of cryptocurrencies. If and when cryptocurrencies are included among AMLD directives, anonymity during transaction exchanges between crypto and fiat currencies will be obsolete.

The European Parliament in May approved a proposal for a task force to investigate the role of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and blockchain technology.

The vote to establish this task force came soon after the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) recommended that the EU Commission consider revising EU payment laws, on the basis of its assessment of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Paris Attacks Called For Change

The push for the amendments came amid increased regulatory debate about cryptocurrencies following the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. Much of the debate focused on the anonymity provided by cryptocurrency exchanges and prepaid cards.

The proposal for the amendment came within a week of Europe’s central law enforcement authority, Europol, published a report explicitly stating that there is no evidence of ISIS using bitcoin as a means to finance its activities.

Exchange services between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies and custodian wallet providers are not presently required to identify suspicious activity, the new proposal stated.

Terrorists Can Conceal Transactions

Terrorist groups can benefit from the anonymity provided by cryptocurrency platforms and can transfer money into the EU’s financial system, the proposal noted. Hence, it is essential to extend the scope of EU Directive 2015/849 to require exchange services between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies as well as custodian wallet providers.

For anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, authorities should be able to monitor the use of cryptocurrencies, the proposal stated. It would safeguard technical advances and the high degree of transparency attained in alternative finance and social entrepreneurship.

The anonymity of cryptocurrencies enables their misuse for criminal purposes. Requiring exchange services between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies and custodian wallet providers will not fully address the issue of anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions since the virtual currency environment will largely remain anonymous since users can also transact without these providers.

Also read: European Commission seeks to end anonymity of bitcoin transfers

Proposal Seeks Oversight Of Cryptocurrency Users

To combat risks related to the anonymity, national Financial Intelligence Units should be able to associate cryptocurrency addresses to the identity of the owner of such currencies. The possibility of allowing users to self-declare to authorities on a voluntary basis should also be considered.

The proposal defines “virtual currencies” as a digital representation of value that can be digitally transferred, stored or traded and accepted by natural or legal persons as a medium of exchange, but does not have legal tender status.

It defines “custodian wallet provider” as an entity providing services to safeguard cryptographic keys on behalf of customers, to holding, storing and transferring virtual currencies.

Under the new proposal, member states are required to ensure that exchange services between virtual currencies and fiat currencies, and custodian wallet providers, are registered.

The proposal also addresses anonymous prepaid cards, which are easy to use in financing terrorist attacks and logistics. Hence, it is essential to deny terrorists this means of financing their operations by further reducing the limits and maximum amounts under which obliged entities aren’t required to apply certain customer due diligence measures provided by Directive (EU) 2015/849.

It is important to lower the thresholds for anonymous prepaid cards and to identify the customer in the case of remote payment transactions exceeding 50 Euros, the proposal noted.

Link : https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/the-european-union-wants-to-identify-bitcoin-users/

That's something that news is indeed quite remarkable and I am sure this could give a gate opener that offing bitcoin will be one of the official currencies used by all people in the world. However I am not convinced that the European Union could identify users bitcoin correctly, because until now there has been no thing that makes the thing and I see that if there would not be accurate because there are indeed many wallets where their owners are one person, but I don't know for sure whether this could give a positive or negative impact. Most importantly we must work well inside or outside of the bitcoin bitcoin
 

For one reason it is good to identify bitcoin users but as we know everyone want to have privacy.
But it is not jus the bitcoin users that need to be identified but also for other cryptocurrencies which is not easy.

Call them potential terrorists and take away their freedoms. This is a change. If many terrorists was really using Bitcoin/crypto then the marketcap would be so fucking large it would be obvious.

Western Union claim to have transferred $150 billion in 2015 alone...

I have heard stories over the years of them being used to launder money; I expect this is a much bigger problem than with Bitcoin, yet I see no push from the EU to identify their users.

I do understand the government reasons:
The directive constitutes the main legal instrument to prevent the EU financial system from being used for money laundering and terrorist financing. The directive, to be transposed by June 26, 2017, establishes a framework to require member states to identify and mitigate risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing.
I think the best way is to control all of exchanges and issues some regulations about convert bitcoin into Euro, money laundering and terrorist financing should be in great amount, so whoever convert in big amount have to reveal his id to gov.

This is a good way to control unwanted money (laundering money or terrorist finance).
but how can they identify and not to hit the bitcoin privacy of the bitcoin users?

They have made mistakes about it. They actually can't be solving a lot of the problem of the money laundry and terrorism in the previous ecosystem.

And in this time, they are pushing it into bitcoin?

I was realizing if this is a scenario by EU. With monitoring, the exchange site won't be solving anything.

They already do, and they have from some time so they have been a part of market cap for quite some time so you won't notice the difference.

This thing would be the big question because if they tend to engage into bitcoin because of money laundering and terrorist finance they would definitely hit up the anonymity features of bitcoin and we all know that tracing its users would really hard thing to do and thats the main problem that EU would face.

Money laundry and hunting down money streams leading to the financing of terrorism, are just excuses that governments hide themselves behind. It's once again their hunger for control that is leading to all kinds of ridiculous policies. Bitcoin is getting bigger with the year, and so does the wealth of people holding Bitcoin. It's the pure smell of money that is making them want to know who you are, and what you hold. Because if they know, you can't avoid the point where you have to pay tax over what you hold, the profits that you have made, etc.

This seems like a hard way to find money launderers. They are getting away with it using PayPal and other services that require all sorts of ID. With bitcoin I think it would be much more difficult.  

Correct. Good luck to them being able to identify all bitcoin users. If some of us don't want to be identified then we're not.

This is one of the things that has to happen if bitcoin is to be widely accepted by all, there's no way they can let bitcoin run alongside currencies without some of this happening, good and it's bad .

Only after they identify all the scammers and compensated all the people they targeted

Isn't it amazing. They openly give money and weapons to terrorists. They open their borders to terrorists, and then give them homes and other benefits.

And then they want to try to stop the guy who is working over here, and wants to send a bit of cash home to help his family buy food.

Oh hey, I think I've identified one! This guy looks like one of them to me. Hmm...

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/files/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-person_0.jpg

I think it's all provided cause of high terroristic activity in the Europe. I am pretty sure that terrorists are using bitcoin for their activity. And that's why Europe wants to identify bitcoin users to track different suspicious activities. Just for global protection.

I don't think you understand, the average guy is the one they want to control. They want to force them to become as poor as possible, submit to the government as much as possible, and then destroy the cultures and form an ethnically homogenous EU, free to control the subjects without much resistance.

A society that cannot or will not protect its women will go extinct eventually, and there are a lot of countries already on that path now.

Merkle is either trying to destroy Germany via criminal liberalism or trying to summon the fourth reich, and it's likely the former.

Maybe they should just deport troublesome immigrants. It would be a lot easier.

What should they do with troublesome citizens?

If the European Union succeeds in eliminating syndicates from using bitcoin then this will be a good publicity. In this way also big time scammers may be monitored and be placed in justice. This events will highlight bitcoin and be placed on the spotlight in the mainstream media. This is a chance for bitcoin to be known to a wide masses especially in Europe.

the usual create problem-offer solution bullshit from the goverment
the only reason to introduce ways to identify bitcoin users (and then the rest of the cryptocurrency users too?)
is to limit your freedom and remove privacy,have total control of your finances through banks etc.
patriotic act #2,terrorism is used as a false flag yet again

Those news while new are nothing really groundbreaking governments around the world have used that excuse in this millennium to get away with whatever they want and the citizens have just agreed to it.

I cant be sure but maybe this thing would be the main motive on this kind of plan of EU.You are right bitcoin is growing everyday and they can already see that people will surely put or hide their tons of money into bitcoin just to evade the taxes thats why they are clinging or imposing such laws or actions that would do against on bitcoins anonymity but i could say it will be a hard step for them.

Good luck with that, Most people using bitcoin at the minute will do everything they can to avoid being identified,  I live in the UK so who cares anyway, we're leaving soon......  ;)
Although after recent events i guess the #pryminister will be looking a database of bitcoin owners here soon also.

Bitcoin is great for businesses and for situations where transparency is desired.

If privacy is desired, use Monero.

I still don't like being supervised or controlled by anybody, and I am pretty sure nobody likes it. What I need is privacy no matter what we're talking about. And I do not need to be a criminal to like privacy - it's just how things should be. You should have your own identity, not a shared one. Maybe Monero is untraceable compared to Bitcoin, but that doesn't make me feel better in any way. If Bitcoin gets controlled and their users are identified .. why wouldn't they do the same with Monero?

Welcome to the club, government's like to identify every one and every thing! That is control! And let's not kidding ourselves, they can come in our homes with warrants, take our computers and take a look what we are doing. They have police and different agencies for that, so many courts and laws about everything.
I'm not surprised with this, it's so typically from governments to do something like this.

Is it really true? That monero is much better to stay hidden?

The criminal transactions like terrorist, drugs, ilegal porn, money laundering, etc. is the bad side of bitcoin as an anonymous crypto currency. It's a real dilemma for bitcoin user.
For example, there is no easy way to explain bitcoin to peoples who don't understand about. They are always think bitcoin is scam ponzi until they found or learn about it self.
If government success to review bitcoin users or we can say they can control our account and transactions, well, this is will be not a decentralized currency anymore.

@Barbut: yes, Monero is better for privacy/anonymity. See https://moneroforcash.com/monero-vs-dash-vs-zcash-vs-bitcoinmixers.php for a quick comparison. In addition, there are links to more Monero info at the bottom of that page.

@mrkevio: right now Bitcoin is not controlled or centralized, so there really is no control over users. However, if changes are made to the system in the future, we would know about it because the source code is open source. If they ever make BTC even partly closed-source...watch out. I don't think that's likely to happen. Monero is also open source and decentralized: anyone can view the source code to verify that nothing shady is going on. Also -- and here is where Monero is different -- all transactions are private so there's no way to identify users by analyzing its blockchain. For example, Monero doesn't have a rich list because the coin is truly private.

Trying to identify Bitcoin users goes against everything it should stand for. And the government trying to do that is the same has going on a capital control process over Bitcoin. Luckily, there will always be ways of anonymizing the use of bitcoin.

i am sure with time more and more restrictions will come while using bitcoin or atleast while purchasing coins because they will come up with the terrorist funding theory so that they can spy everyone .These things are expected to happen and hope changes will happen accordingly.

Again bitcoin is related in the news with criminals and terrorists. :(

I`m 100% sure that 99,99% of the criminals and terrorists worldwide had never used cryptos.

This will create problems for BTC-e, the largest anonymous Bitcoin exchange. A few years back, they shifted their operations from Kiev (Ukraine) to Sofia (Bulgaria). Since Bulgaria is an European Union member, they will have to comply with the directives now.

they only want to do it via exchange, not going to track each address to know who is the owner, and anyway if you use an exchange you are already half-tracked because your bank account display your real name

unless you have a stolen bank account...you can still use a mixer or use other way to sell or to trade your coin

I think there should be a two pronged approach. First you would need to legalize every crypto currency as legal tender and then only you would be able to put in some regulation. You cannot have one without the other.

People don't be shortsighted, that exercise is simply calling a dog a bad name, just so it becomes excusable to hang it! How many terrorists so far have been linked with cryptocurrency and again did terrorism only start some eight years ago? This is what the true picture is, the Euro is very sick and in fact standing on one foot and here comes bitcoin and its relatives full of life and vigor, what do you think those people who print Euro from thin air would say or do?

yes they will keep check and balance on suspected address only and not on each and every, they can easily get the information from our exchanges from where we transfer money to our bank accouts.

Yup. Some of the terrorists were claiming benefits and using them to fund purchasing arms etc

The main goal of the useless folk in the European Parliament is to hinder FinTech to prop up their failing banks, the terrosim is just an excuse for the other stuff.

Indeed.  Economic freedom is something states are afraid of.  Then they cannot rip off their productive people any more.  Control their money, and you control them.  Bitcoin was a way out.  They've seen it.

This is pure war against bitcoin and not terrorism. Countries don't like their citizens freedom and bitcoin does just that give freedom of holding money the way citizens want. This can be counter attacked by exchanging bitcoin to monero and then monero to bitcoin again to a new wallet and new address.

We lose some fee of exchanging this way but privacy is protected this way. TOR+VPN is a must also by doing these moves.

Privacy is protected becuse Monero is untraceable coin.

Brace up for the regulation is coming and when it finally does, its going to defeat the anonymity Bitcoin professes. Even without this coming to effect yet I have seen exchange sites hiding under the KYCs to even ask for your blood group before allowing one to trade then what are we saying. Its coming and I see government using recent happenings as a reason to have their way.

This definitely have a point :).  They have failed uncovering terrorist that uses the old system to launder money or finance terrorist action, what more they can do with bitcoin. They wanted to make their failing banking system to stay longer so they will think anything that will hinder Fintech advancement.

Well i don't understand this move. It will be really hard to identify individuals using bitcoins unless they themselves show up to the authority. So maybe later if someone doesn't show up or register themselves will be suspect for a terrorist activity, for real. -.-

Its so ironic that democracy is by the people for the people but now those appointed by the people want to control the people in every aspect.

If they do it, what will be the difference between a normal fiat online tx and bitcoin tx right. The market will start to crash, dont think it will go down completely for obvious reasons, but i think it will reach some lower values.

Then comes in alt coins, there people have potential to make something really good if they catch the opportunity in the right way.

We can hope for a better change as the governments are trying to make bitcoin user’s transaction easily identify so that they can monitor their activities and affair and the purpose of their bitcoin uses, as it is the need of the day, because of the suspected activities of suspected people in all over the world.

Government agencies have lots of way of identifying users of bitcoin, they could analyze the transactions, they could track your ip, your browser, the add ons in your browser your hardware, and more factors.

This is funny. Lol good luck trying to find out who owns what wallet since you can make as many as you want whenever you want freely and with the greatest of ease. The government habe enough to do this would be the worse waste of tax payers money then there ever could be. It would be endless and throwing money into a void. Do you really want you tax money spent this way ? What if the roads need to be fixed and now that  can't be ?

I agree with you, they have no chance for a tracking.

When they track me, then i buy 10 altcoins on a exchange for my bitcoins and send it too 5 other exchanges
and buy there also 10 altcoins for my altcoins, i would love to see it how many money and men power they will burn for that.

I still remember European Union wanting to create a Bitcoin user database back in june. Crazy what these vile governments can do simply by just mentioning the word terrorism.

Isn't that what they always say, for global protection?

There's no denying that bitcoin sure is being used in the deep web but in this case, there are other things they can do before they further infringe on their citizen's privacy. They just won't do it because the severely PC culture there in Europe won't allow it. How hard is it to track which countries their citizens have been going to? Travelling to countries known for harboring fundamentalists should already be a red flag but no, they won't do it. They won't even just check the records! The guy that rammed a truck at stalls in Christmas market in Berlin have criminal records in his home country and imprisoned for theft in Italy for crying out loud!

The EU is out of control.

This is one of many signs that they need to disband.

Godamnit!
You know I as a European hate the terrorists. But I don't hate them because they killed a bunch of people, I hate them because the fear of terrorism gave the perfect excuse for our governments to go even further in control and coercition. We got the army in every important city you have controls and ID check whenever you want to enter in an important building and believe it or not but even police station are no longer opened to the public (you have to call them so they open you...)
And now this.
Well the good news is that I believe they won't be able to do shit. Fact is that even if something can be done "technically" they have by no way even 10% of the mandatory means to do what they want. Don't forget that most of those countries are both old and full of debt. They won't pay the people needed to control us because they can't pay them ^^

It will really be just the watage of time, as the cannot get the desire result from that, because the suspected people were already using other ways money transaction before bitcoin was fully introduced, so it is not such a big problem for them, the they need to destroy their physical network first.

If there wasn't Bitcoin, it was gold or just any other method. Funding terrorists can be done anonymously in so many ways. Because Bitcoin is anonymous it doesn't mean I or you are a terrorist.. the big problem we're facing is that they want the control over Bitcoin too now. Will we ever have the privacy we want and we need? I don't think so, because we're looking at something that is starting to look more and more like a total control over anything. I guess soon we won't even have the necessary privacy we need in our own bathroom ..............

I don't think this is something against Bitcoin or Bitcoin users but against terrorists. Maybe this will not be very effective but they are trying everything they think it could give some results. All attempts of Bitcoin regulations have in most cases the same goal but this would be very hard to achieve.
Unfortunately in times of big terrorist threaths our privacy is endangered and somet we have to choose between security and privacy.

Well not so fast! The government might succeed in laying siege on bitcoin, but it is a pity, they woke up a little too late, because bitcoin already played its role as a pioneer, the seed of revolution have sprouted already and taken deep roots. If not bitcoin, then more robust and sophisticated decedents are sure to emerge to  fill the void.

One of the highlights of bitcoin is its decentralized nature and possibility for peer to peer transactions, so exchanges are not indispensable, besides with bitcoin's global outreach, there will definitely be exchanges that won't insist on KYC.

Someone should remind the governments that terrorists are not the ones manufacturing weapons and ammunition, which is the root of the problem. Evidently bitcoin is not their problem as just about any asset can equally be put to use by those desperate to achieve their aim.

Several market places were providing illegal products such as guns, terrorist hackers tools and so on openly. So governments taking initiatives to control or stop their growth seems better than just in the name of development planning to deploy bitcoin for its anonymous nature.

Bah.
It won't work, period.
If it ever worked, whole dark-net would just switch to another anonymous altcoin.
No one would give a damn about the governments proposals. They just can't get us.

Freedom is hard to achieve, and humanity was always enslaved. It's only 200 years since physical slavery was abolished, only to find ourselves in a new form of slavery.

Yes financial slavery, this time not with chains and whips, but with electronic money and debit cards.

Inflation is so fucking big, that Bitcoin is too easy to protect against inflation with it, that is why hoarding was banned in many countries.

What you are saying is true due to this only they want to control bitcoin by doing all this laws so that uses should get afraid and dont use bitcoin or other crypto currency.

Stop making such a big deal about it. Think of it as cash - it's effectively anonymous, and would you think it a violation of your privacy if your nation put out a mandatory census that asks whether you use cash? Stop getting into that horrible "I must be anonymous at every single thing I do" mindset. It's unhealthy.

EU parliament is known of creating idiotic laws and regulations, it is not a secret they are mainly issued the laws requested by their economic puppet masters.

List of some ridiculous EU laws:

- the passed the law that all bananas must not be curved...

- in 2011 they passed a law which prohibited bottled drinking water manufacturers from labeling their product with info which suggest drinking water stopped dehydration

- at some point they wanted to ban every driver diagnosed with diabetes they deemed people with diabetes unable to drive cars

- they banned high powered vacuum cleaners (there is limit of 1,600 watts)

- and many more...

Do we really need those idiots to tell us what to do?

Anonymity is what they have chosen as their point of reference, but if you read in between the lines, you won't fail to notice their grievance is simply the control they lost. Take it or leave it, Bitcoin is a major threat to the Euro and in case, you ain't aware, within three months time, the ECB have scheduled to commence quantitative easing and that in the simplest term means - pumping so much money out of thin air. Can you imagine what digit of inflation that awaits the Euro zone? I think you should rather be saying thank goodness there is a safe haven like bitcoin, people can turn to.