The EU wants transparency on Cryptocurrencies

[Ultegra134]

The financing of money laundering and terrorism is a huge problem all over the world, we know that but i think the demands of the European Parliament are not related to these issues, they are just excuses. They want our information because they want to manage our money, it's their job.

Assuming these regulations would be implemented, how would they "manage our money"?

I actually find really hard to even pass these regulations due to the nature of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. It's almost impossible to track our every move while at the same time there are several ways to store your funds offline, supposing the governments could actually track online storage/wallets. I don't doubt that something won't happen towards the regulation of crypto, buy I do doubt its effectivity.

Not that hard at all. Regulator just has to make sure that no money flows into or out of cryptocurrencies without the transparency of transactions.

They don't need to track your movements directly. If there is, however, no way to take money out of cryptocurrency without transparency, such transparency will be enforced indirectly.

Assume you are a business. You only sell against bitcoin, but the bills (eg electricity, web hosting, wages, taxes etc) are in USD, so you will need to exchange the btc income for usd and move that usd to your bank account to pay the bills. The regulator can force banks  not to accept any usd tranfers from any cryptoexchange without proof of providence.

I get your point, if you actually withdraw money from the exchange into your bank account, you are bound to be caught and taxed one day. However, there are other ways to exchange Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, via face-to-face deals, this is the minority though to be honest but my point is that it can still be bypassed. If these regulations do pass, then they will probably start catching up most of the transactions/money laundering coming through banks.

[pitiflin]

I still hope that KYC will be used in good things and I know EU can’t control this market since exchanges are beyond their jurisdiction. Maybe EU wants to regulate cryptocurrency that will benefit them in the long run.

Yeah EU, no every fucking country wants to do that.
And what makes you think that exchanges are beyond their jurisdiction? If there are any serious issues, the EU can subpoena the scammer or anyone who did some shady shit in EU related to cryptocurrencies.
Do you even know what kyc is? It is supposed to be used for good things but you can always stay anonymous, though you would have to be smart for it.

[Noelbetty12]

These could have an impact to the market. We don't know yet if these regulations would take away anonymity out of the equation. If it will, certainly many will have problems using it. Many will fear getting taxed or be made known to the public with their money.

[Menawi12]

Its really bad how they push it on our own wallet. I think its hard to happen because as we know that bitcoin is open source and its decentralized. If that regulation on exchanges its still ok but if that happen on our own wallet, i am believe that because of banks lobby

[v3liana]

Stumbled upon this article today.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/security/20180404STO00913/plenary-vote-stricter-eu-rules-on-money-laundering-and-terrorism-financing

According to the European Parliament, in order to fight money laundering and terrorism financing, they proposed a new legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies. Quoting from the article:

The new legislation would also require virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers to exercise due diligence and end the anonymity associated with such exchanges. “Now we say that platform providers and those who keep bitcoins in their wallet need to know their customers just as banks do. It is quite revolutionary,” explains Sargentini.

In simple words, they actually want wallet providers to require more information from us, similar to banks.

What are your thoughts on this? Could this ever happen?

i believe this is will happen cause goverment somehow wanted to control economic aspect and they wanted to do AML. Regulation is inevitable and its good for development of cryptocurrency.

[Tynovten_]

Along with bitcoin continues to grow, speculation also continue to be created. Their drive to create laws is something that deserves for appreciation, they say in order to prevent the financing of terrorism.

This is a good thing, but it takes a lot of research to know that.

The new laws will make first will be directed toward terrorism and might be directed toward a wider range especially tax.

[gezhid008]

If the government can regulate the currency, I think it will attract more investors.

But this is not acceptable for any authentication of any cryptocurrency. Many people respect and love their privacy.

[pvk444]

...

Assume you are a business. You only sell against bitcoin, but the bills (eg electricity, web hosting, wages, taxes etc) are in USD, so you will need to exchange the btc income for usd and move that usd to your bank account to pay the bills. The regulator can force banks  not to accept any usd tranfers from any cryptoexchange without proof of providence.

I get your point, if you actually withdraw money from the exchange into your bank account, you are bound to be caught and taxed one day. However, there are other ways to exchange Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, via face-to-face deals, this is the minority though to be honest but my point is that it can still be bypassed. If these regulations do pass, then they will probably start catching up most of the transactions/money laundering coming through banks.

You are right that it can be bypassed, but not in a scalable, maintainable way. Let's be honest, if we only talk about the occasional transaction, then there is no problem with regulation, but the cryptos will remain an unimportant toy. As soon as you want to run a serious business, or as soon as you want the majority of your income come from cryptos, these alternative channels will quickly become inoperable.

Also, even if you are able to accumulate wealth outside of a regulated system, it would be immensely difficult to use that wealth. The reintegration of the usd you managed to pull out of crypto will be made difficult, as at some point questions about the source of the money would arise inevitably.

Thus, I just don't see a way around it.

[DevelopmentBank]

I think because of that monero cannot be listed on coinbase etc. But rather on decentralized exchanges. It may make them less valuable in the future, I don't think they will be valuable while no central authority sympathises it.

I argue that it may instead actually make Monero more valuable. It goes to show that Monero lives up to the original ideals and goals behind cryptocurrencies. Many people will buy and continue to use it because of the privacy it affords. Privacy has value, otherwise how different is crypto from banks.

[Mpamaegbu]

In simple words, they actually want wallet providers to require more information from us, similar to banks.

Could this ever happen?

To that in bold I say a big Yes! That is the excess for which most exchanges and ICOs now require a compulsory KYC, either during registration or during withdrawals. I know this may defile the secrecy bitcoin and cryptocurrency stand for but doing that  will expectedly be for the overall interest of the crypto industry.

If these issues bothering on terrorism and money laundering are what make some countries kick against the cryptocurrency, then these countries should open up and regulate the industry in their respective homes, rather than clamp down on this emerging technology.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

In simple words, they actually want wallet providers to require more information from us, similar to banks.

It is not a big surprise going forward and every governments around the world want a transparent market and they wanted to collect information about every user and they will monitor everyone who has a huge amount of money and that is how things are going to go in the future, since this is a global market i hope they wont restrict the trade geographically .

[a7goo]

I think that regulating crypto currencies is almost impossible for governments around the world. They can only "adapt" to all the mechanisms of the crypto. Where we are now ......... it is impossible to go back or cancel ...... only adaptation

[rowel21]

crypto is it best because   if its decentralized system if they   make it more often even the government will penetrate and put it a big tax and decentralisation  will vanish and the control will put on the higher personnel

[South Park]

Stumbled upon this article today.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/security/20180404STO00913/plenary-vote-stricter-eu-rules-on-money-laundering-and-terrorism-financing

According to the European Parliament, in order to fight money laundering and terrorism financing, they proposed a new legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies. Quoting from the article:

The new legislation would also require virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers to exercise due diligence and end the anonymity associated with such exchanges. “Now we say that platform providers and those who keep bitcoins in their wallet need to know their customers just as banks do. It is quite revolutionary,” explains Sargentini.

In simple words, they actually want wallet providers to require more information from us, similar to banks.

What are your thoughts on this? Could this ever happen?

They were commenting a tighter legislation rules from months.
This will only lead to more and better Decentralized Exchanges (DEX). I'm supporting it somehow. Because now I'm paying Capital Gain Tax anyway.

This is what many governments do not really understand they think that they will be able to regulate cryptocurrencies in the same way they regulate everything but it is not going to happen that way, people will begin to develop new solutions and one of the solutions for centralized exchanges are decentralized exchanges that will allow to us to exchange our coins without the need of going through know your customer policies.

[4abrec]

Stumbled upon this article today.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/security/20180404STO00913/plenary-vote-stricter-eu-rules-on-money-laundering-and-terrorism-financing

According to the European Parliament, in order to fight money laundering and terrorism financing, they proposed a new legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies. Quoting from the article:

The new legislation would also require virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers to exercise due diligence and end the anonymity associated with such exchanges. “Now we say that platform providers and those who keep bitcoins in their wallet need to know their customers just as banks do. It is quite revolutionary,” explains Sargentini.

In simple words, they actually want wallet providers to require more information from us, similar to banks.

What are your thoughts on this? Could this ever happen?

I'm not killed. In fact, everything is going right, and the guys from the ES are working in the right direction. In large amounts, I think it should be transparent.

[tonyosa]

This is always the case of calling a dog a bad name in other to hang it.That is how some government treat bitcoin.Saying it is a tool used by terrorist and all the bullshit.Bitcoin in my opinion is not meant to be centralized or controlled the way some persons are proposing.We dont want some more anarchy from the powers that be.Bitcoin is for the people and is the peoples currency.

[senne]

This is a nice thought regarding preventing money laundering and thefts happening due to crypto currencies. But the main question is how will they tackle this problem, its not the system which is corrupted its regarding the people who use in the negative way. EU might impose proper verification on local exchanges but it is nearly impossible to track global market transaction, despite have an open ledge we cannot link any wallet to any individual without proper investigation.

[klasik1980]

This is a nice thought regarding preventing money laundering and thefts happening due to crypto currencies. But the main question is how will they tackle this problem, its not the system which is corrupted its regarding the people who use in the negative way. EU might impose proper verification on local exchanges but it is nearly impossible to track global market transaction, despite have an open ledge we cannot link any wallet to any individual without proper investigation.

They need to figure out alternative methods to fight crime in the first place. Maybe drugs should be legal and taxed? Maybe we shouldn't tax peoples income and we wont have to deal with tax evasion? The government needs to adapt.

[cahbagus555]

Stumbled upon this article today.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/security/20180404STO00913/plenary-vote-stricter-eu-rules-on-money-laundering-and-terrorism-financing

According to the European Parliament, in order to fight money laundering and terrorism financing, they proposed a new legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies. Quoting from the article:

The new legislation would also require virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers to exercise due diligence and end the anonymity associated with such exchanges. “Now we say that platform providers and those who keep bitcoins in their wallet need to know their customers just as banks do. It is quite revolutionary,” explains Sargentini.

In simple words, they actually want wallet providers to require more information from us, similar to banks.

What are your thoughts on this? Could this ever happen?

That could happen if government and regulator push it on regulation but as we know, bitcoin or other cryptocurrency are decentralized and if we opening bitcoin wallet should providing our identity, the name change to not crypto anymore

[Sled]

In my opinion they can easily achieve it because there is a blockchain explorer that they can use in order to see the things that they wanted to see. Most of the cryptocurrencies are already transparent so what kind of transparency is they want. The government can tell people to have an annual report of their cryptocurrency activities so they can get more transparency.