European Union to ban anonymous crypto and privacy tokens by 2027

[Abiky]

The solution to this, as always, is to go back to Bitcoin standard and use Bitcoin as it's supposed to be used, which is, p2p non-custodial and possibly decentralized transactions.

By the way, I think that would be implemented on centralized platforms because anonymous accounts can't be banned on decentralized system that's based on Bitcoin standard. Besides, it's basically unsafe to reveal people real identities and link the identities to their crypto assets on a system that's as transparent as Bitcoin.  
This will likely be a typical kyc verifications mainly on centralized custodial wallets, exchanges and platforms . The centralized non-custodial exchanges/wallets would do well if they become decentralized and implement a decentralized kyc and/or auto-checks on transactions/coins to ensure they are clean or in compliance with reasonable standards before getting to recipient addresses. The normal decentralized platforms could also implement this.

In regards to privacy tokens, I think it would be better to prevent them from being used for evil or criminal activities rather than an outright ban. They could be very useful to innocent users in times of tyranny.

Exactly. People will be forced to use crypto "the right way". In a good way, extreme regulatory oversight will result in more decentralization for the whole crypto industry. I think privacy coins like Monero and Zcash will only get stronger after they're "banned" from the EU. Too bad for them, because they'll be missing a huge opportunity for profit (through taxation of crypto assets). In this regard, the US "will eat its cake".

I sure hope the next generation of european politicians devise crypto-friendly policies for the benefit of all. Europeans should thread lightly when trading privacy coins in a decentralized manner to avoid getting caught. Otherwise, they could face fines or even imprisonment. Who knows? Maybe the EU will change its mind before 2027. I could only imagine...

[GreatArkansas]

Cracking down on privacy coins might help with fraud, but it also risks stripping away freedom and privacy in the long run. If they ban anonymous accounts, it could set a dangerous precedent for more control over crypto.

I'm curious about how they will ban it.
It is mentioned in the article are ZCASH or XMR. How can they know if their people are using some altcoins or even own them? I think this is very challenging to them, especially since these coins are decentralized, not compared to stablecoins like USDC or USDT.
 

[tbct_mt2]

Exactly. People will be forced to use crypto "the right way". In a good way, extreme regulatory oversight will result in more decentralization for the whole crypto industry. I think privacy coins like Monero and Zcash will only get stronger after they're "banned" from the EU. Too bad for them, because they'll be missing a huge opportunity for profit (through taxation of crypto assets). In this regard, the US "will eat its cake".

European Union are leading the continent to collapse with many policies against their citizens while they are too opened for immigrants even illegal and violent immigrants. Censorship and attempt to break privacy, free of speech and many other things, I see they are not going to be better but be worse.

I sure hope the next generation of european politicians devise crypto-friendly policies for the benefit of all. Europeans should thread lightly when trading privacy coins in a decentralized manner to avoid getting caught. Otherwise, they could face fines or even imprisonment. Who knows? Maybe the EU will change its mind before 2027. I could only imagine...

Cryptocurrency is only one part of their societies and they must change strategic approaches to be against or friendly with citizens. If they change to be more friendly and more readily to serve citizens who are true owners of the continent and nations there, cryptocurrency regulations will change to be more friendly for the people. Otherwise, things will get worse and worse.

[Abiky]

I'm curious about how they will ban it.
It is mentioned in the article are ZCASH or XMR. How can they know if their people are using some altcoins or even own them? I think this is very challenging to them, especially since these coins are decentralized, not compared to stablecoins like USDC or USDT.

They can only know who is using which crypto if trades are settled through a KYC-compliant centralized exchange. But outside of that, the EU will have a hard time trying to identify privacy coin users. Especially when its comes to a coin such as Monero. Buying/selling on a decentralized exchange, non-KYC P2P trading platform, or even F2F/in-person will render governments' efforts useless. Just avoid converting your privacy coin back into a transparent cryptocurrency (eg: BTC, ETH, stablecoins, etc) and there should be nothing to worry about.

This is actually good for crypto because it encourages decentralization. The inverse would happen if regulations are eased. As far as I know, not many people use crypto in the EU (compared to the US). So nothing will happen after the 2027 ban.

European Union are leading the continent to collapse with many policies against their citizens while they are too opened for immigrants even illegal and violent immigrants. Censorship and attempt to break privacy, free of speech and many other things, I see they are not going to be better but be worse.

...
Cryptocurrency is only one part of their societies and they must change strategic approaches to be against or friendly with citizens. If they change to be more friendly and more readily to serve citizens who are true owners of the continent and nations there, cryptocurrency regulations will change to be more friendly for the people. Otherwise, things will get worse and worse.

Yes. They've always been "anti-crypto". Probably because they want to push their agenda of a CBDC (Digital Euro). Will europeans allow this to happen? Only time will tell.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

They can only know who is using which crypto if trades are settled through a KYC-compliant centralized exchange. But outside of that, the EU will have a hard time trying to identify privacy coin users. Especially when its comes to a coin such as Monero. Buying/selling on a decentralized exchange, non-KYC P2P trading platform, or even F2F/in-person will render governments' efforts useless. Just avoid converting your privacy coin back into a transparent cryptocurrency (eg: BTC, ETH, stablecoins, etc) and there should be nothing to worry about.

This is actually good for crypto because it encourages decentralization. The inverse would happen if regulations are eased. As far as I know, not many people use crypto in the EU (compared to the US). So nothing will happen after the 2027 ban.

I don't see it the way you do. What good will it do to have a privacy coin in the EU? Unless you want to buy stuff on the Deep Web, it's not going to do you any good. I will be able to buy it in a DEX, but I won't be able to spend it directly and if I want to sell it, everything will be problems. If I buy and sell a lot through DEX I will have a series of transactions to my bank account that I may be asked to justify and I will not be able to justify. Meeting in person has its dangers.

I don't see why I would want to buy a privacy coin then. To make it so private that I can't even spend it?

[Davidvictorson]

The funniest thing is that fraud will still continue to exist but they are making moves that will make people have no privacy and this will indirectly be connected to lack of freedom later just like this one.

This is not just about the ban on privacy coin like monero but mostly about banning anonymous accounts. They just want to know everyone having cryptocurrencies and the amount of coins or tokens that they have. They want to know when you send coins and when you receive coins. They just want to know all your moves pertaining cryptocurrencies.

This is the news: https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-crypto-ban-anonymous-privacy-tokens-2027

They want to ban anonymous accounts and privacy coins by 2027.

In short they want to turn it to the way banks and financial services run their business. Basically they want to strictly implement the know your customers. The biggest threat they face is not being in control. When they are not in control they lose their power over the people. The people in the EU should brace up for a long battle one that the outcome is unknown.

[Abiky]

I don't see it the way you do. What good will it do to have a privacy coin in the EU? Unless you want to buy stuff on the Deep Web, it's not going to do you any good. I will be able to buy it in a DEX, but I won't be able to spend it directly and if I want to sell it, everything will be problems. If I buy and sell a lot through DEX I will have a series of transactions to my bank account that I may be asked to justify and I will not be able to justify. Meeting in person has its dangers.

I don't see why I would want to buy a privacy coin then. To make it so private that I can't even spend it?

Not everyone "buys stuff" on the Deep Web. There are people who use privacy coins for legitimate purposes (like hiding their financial activity related to business, or simply to prevent third-parties from knowing all of their transaction history). Now why would transactions from a DEX be linked to your bank account? That would only happen if the exchange is KYC-compliant or centralized. The smart thing to do would be to buy privacy coins with cash (paper money) in person, and trade them against other cryptocurrencies on a decentralized exchange (DEX). No personally-identifiable info or trail would be left for the government to use against you. It's all about following the necessary security measures to avoid getting caught in the long run.

By the way, spending wouldn't be much of an issue since you can exchange popular privacy coins (like Monero and Zcash) for Bitcoin. You can then use that BTC to load a prepaid virtual card on MoonPay, or simply buy a gift card to spend your coins at your favorite store/retailer. Let's see what happens by 2027. I'm sure the EU will change its mind after increasing pressure from crypto industry players (mainly lobbyists). 

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Now why would transactions from a DEX be linked to your bank account?

Because that's the main use. Transactions through bank accounts.

That would only happen if the exchange is KYC-compliant or centralized.

It has nothing to do.

The smart thing to do would be to buy privacy coins with cash (paper money) in person, and trade them against other cryptocurrencies on a decentralized exchange (DEX).

That's actually not smart at all. If you are only going to buy or sell in person you will have even less chance of executing the sale or purchase, and none at all for someone who does not live near a large urban environment. In addition, meeting in person has its risks.

By the way, spending wouldn't be much of an issue since you can exchange popular privacy coins (like Monero and Zcash) for Bitcoin. You can then use that BTC to load a prepaid virtual card on MoonPay, or simply buy a gift card to spend your coins at your favorite store/retailer.

Not when they are banned And for that I will buy and hold bitcoin simply because it will not be banned, it will give me more profitability, it has more liquidity to exchange and I can use it with privacy if I am careful.

[dzungmobile]

Because that's the main use. Transactions through bank accounts.

CEX or DEX or P2P, if you do your trade in bank transfers, it will make some data in your bank account and bank transfer history. It is data for banks and whether they know that your bank transfers related to Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies or not, it depends on other data and behaviour of accounts of you and your trade partners.

Assume that banks and governments don't know that you have trades related to cryptocurrencies but if you are trading with a trade partner that is identified by banks and governments, they will find you and ask for more details, evidence of your bank transfers. It's when your trouble starts to appear and you can imagine what might possibly happen next.

[Orpichukwu]

Because that's the main use. Transactions through bank accounts.

Assume that banks and governments don't know that you have trades related to cryptocurrencies but if you are trading with a trade partner that is identified by banks and governments, they will find you and ask for more details, evidence of your bank transfers. It's when your trouble starts to appear and you can imagine what might possibly happen next.

Exactly, this is how it really happens. It doesn't come directly from the DEX, but from when one of the trader accounts is being suspected and confirmed to be doing a cryptocurrency-related transaction, then they will trace all the people they did transactions with. Questions will be asked, and the purpose of the transaction will also be asked, which, if no concrete evidence to differentiate you from the accusation, the next person and every other person they have done transactions with will be implicated. What's needed is for one person to be suspected, and the rest will be affected.

[suzanne5223]

Because that's the main use. Transactions through bank accounts.

Assume that banks and governments don't know that you have trades related to cryptocurrencies but if you are trading with a trade partner that is identified by banks and governments, they will find you and ask for more details, evidence of your bank transfers. It's when your trouble starts to appear and you can imagine what might possibly happen next.

Exactly, this is how it really happens. It doesn't come directly from the DEX, but from when one of the trader accounts is being suspected and confirmed to be doing a cryptocurrency-related transaction, then they will trace all the people they did transactions with. Questions will be asked, and the purpose of the transaction will also be asked, which, if no concrete evidence to differentiate you from the accusation, the next person and every other person they have done transactions with will be implicated. What's needed is for one person to be suspected, and the rest will be affected.

Technically, yes.
I believe the best thing to do to limit the chance of being questioned in a situation like this is to never do crypto to fiat trading twice with a single person, just like it was advised not to use a single crypto wallet address twice.
Having said that, I look deep into the move of the EU government concern the ban of anonymous crypto and token in 2027 as a means to make institutional banks as the major player for crypto to fiat trading in the future, and I hope every crypto holder will prioritize noncustodial holding more than before.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

The funniest thing is that fraud will still continue to exist but they are making moves that will make people have no privacy and this will indirectly be connected to lack of freedom later just like this one.

This is not just about the ban on privacy coin like monero but mostly about banning anonymous accounts. They just want to know everyone having cryptocurrencies and the amount of coins or tokens that they have. They want to know when you send coins and when you receive coins. They just want to know all your moves pertaining cryptocurrencies.

This is the news: https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-crypto-ban-anonymous-privacy-tokens-2027

They want to ban anonymous accounts and privacy coins by 2027.

Well, let me just say that it's possible (maybe) for them succeed in banning privacy coins, but how do they plan to achieve the ban of anonymous accounts?

And one thing I did like to say is that no matter how the government try, they will never achieve gaining 100% control over cryptocurrency holders, except they find a way to take over the blockchain and gain complete control over it, then they did be able to censor and control wallet creation, where there will no longer be a thing as self custody or non-custodial wallets.

But as long as they can't gain access to the blockchain to control what happens there, they can only try to ban people or citizens from the use of non-custodial wallets, but alot of people will still use it, so the government can never be able to completely kill privacy, most especially in crypto.

[goldkingcoiner]

The funniest thing is that fraud will still continue to exist but they are making moves that will make people have no privacy and this will indirectly be connected to lack of freedom later just like this one.

This is not just about the ban on privacy coin like monero but mostly about banning anonymous accounts. They just want to know everyone having cryptocurrencies and the amount of coins or tokens that they have. They want to know when you send coins and when you receive coins. They just want to know all your moves pertaining cryptocurrencies.

This is the news: https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-crypto-ban-anonymous-privacy-tokens-2027

They want to ban anonymous accounts and privacy coins by 2027.

Let me go ahead and quote Victoria Nuland: Fuck the EU.

I am tired of these glorified Stasi bureaucrats trying to peek into our wallets every chance they get. It is shameful, it is a violation of our innermost human privacy. And they will never succeed. They do not do this with fiat; where they could demand every piece of physical paper money to have the name of the owner stamped on it (Although I am certain that is the next step, once they force CBDCs on everyone)  

These greedy, senile bankers and their loyal government dogs are the same people who incited WW2 and enraged the people into a killing frenzy.

Nobody in crypto cares about the regulations concerning centralized entities, because the very same services already exist as decentralized, non-custodial and open source alternatives. Hopefully these alternatives will be pushed to become the standard.

The idiot politicians of the EU are only making crypto become more decentralized and more anonymous by pushing their fascist, privacy-violating laws on us.

IT IS DISGUSTING.

We need Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to save us from these government-protected bank gangsters and their money printing and taxation-theft schemes. The truth is plain as day to anyone with a single digit IQ or higher.

[Odusko]

The reality at hand is that we have lost the fight to centralizations and also putting ourselves at risk if we accept to go along with the centralizations of cryptocurrency transactions, most centralized exchanges are banning transactions from privacy enhanced services such as gambling platforms, their anti Money laundering is somewhat at the increase and this undermine the true purpose of decentralized transactions, everything is now questioned.

[coupable]

The reality at hand is that we have lost the fight to centralizations and also putting ourselves at risk if we accept to go along with the centralizations of cryptocurrency transactions, most centralized exchanges are banning transactions from privacy enhanced services such as gambling platforms, their anti Money laundering is somewhat at the increase and this undermine the true purpose of decentralized transactions, everything is now questioned.

What did you expect from the beginning? That governments and major global financial institutions that control the world would become friendly to blockchain and the concept of decentralization? Especially those who believe that it is possible to eliminate the use of traditional payment systems and even fiat money, despite all the criticism, shortcomings, and crises they have caused. Simply because this is the system that the entire world operates by, and deviating from this system is like deviating from the world.

The only hope lies in relying on technology to advance further, enabling us to preserve our financial privacy and create applications and mechanisms that enable us to bypass tracking and surveillance systems. Then, too, we will not survive, because this will result in a reality between authorities and users that resembles the battles between Tom and Jerry.

[Odusko]

The only hope lies in relying on technology to advance further, enabling us to preserve our financial privacy and create applications and mechanisms that enable us to bypass tracking and surveillance systems. Then, too, we will not survive, because this will result in a reality between authorities and users that resembles the battles between Tom and Jerry.

Very correct it all the fight between user and government, once the government attention is drawn to any sector it becomes long road down battles, and for iw e can just enjoy the flexibility that is available to us in the cryptocurrency space for iw and along the line if regulations and centralizations becomes more intense we can likely then move one from privacy enhancing engagement and try to play along with the government.

[coupable]

The only hope lies in relying on technology to advance further, enabling us to preserve our financial privacy and create applications and mechanisms that enable us to bypass tracking and surveillance systems. Then, too, we will not survive, because this will result in a reality between authorities and users that resembles the battles between Tom and Jerry.

Very correct it all the fight between user and government, once the government attention is drawn to any sector it becomes long road down battles, and for iw e can just enjoy the flexibility that is available to us in the cryptocurrency space for iw and along the line if regulations and centralizations becomes more intense we can likely then move one from privacy enhancing engagement and try to play along with the government.

I wouldn't say the reality is too bad, because there are still opportunities to enjoy some privacy. However, we must take advantage of these opportunities for further development and discussion to explore ways to make blockchain applications more effective. If these applications lose their features as stated by Satoshi himself in the Bitcoin protocol, there will be no need for them, and they will be indistinguishable from any other application controlled by a central authority. Currently, the only community discussing important issues such as privacy, network tracking, security measures, and development prospects is the bitcointalk community, which raises concerns that this space alone will not be able to achieve the desired results. I invite everyone to start/join discussions about these issues across all networks to increase people's awareness of them.

[Agbe]

Personally speaking this move is a good one as it's used in cutting the rate of financial crime in the net but I don't see this as the solution to scams as there will be still be scams but but my interest is in the fact that most tokens who are there without any prospects and just flooding the crypto space will be wiped away by this law this will make people to concentrate on Bitcoin and other stable altcoins who have a good performance level looking at this law it's a good one in sanitizing the crypto community

[aoluain]

The thread title is slightly misleading.

The EU wants to ban anonymous "accounts" on service providers like exchanges.
Its just another AML measure.

They do however want to ban privacy tokens!

Its the headline of the article

EU to ban anonymous crypto accounts and privacy coins by 2027

We will still be able to use P2P exchanges like HodlHodl I hope.

Personally speaking this move is a good one as it's used in cutting the rate of financial crime in the net but I don't see this as the solution to scams as there will be still be scams but but my interest is in the fact that most tokens who are there without any prospects and just flooding the crypto space will be wiped away by this law this will make people to concentrate on Bitcoin and other stable altcoins who have a good performance level looking at this law it's a good one in sanitizing the crypto community

I agree, ok its dressed up as a move to attack money laundering and cut down on
financial avenues for crime but I'm not sure it will, criminals at least the top level
ones have other avenues to launder their finances, most of the time these are
extremely legitimate looking from the outside.

[Abiky]

CEX or DEX or P2P, if you do your trade in bank transfers, it will make some data in your bank account and bank transfer history. It is data for banks and whether they know that your bank transfers related to Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies or not, it depends on other data and behaviour of accounts of you and your trade partners.

Assume that banks and governments don't know that you have trades related to cryptocurrencies but if you are trading with a trade partner that is identified by banks and governments, they will find you and ask for more details, evidence of your bank transfers. It's when your trouble starts to appear and you can imagine what might possibly happen next.

Yes. There's the risk of getting "flagged" by the government due to suspicious trading activity. You need to be careful when dealing with someone you don't trust. One day, you might end up trading crypto on a P2P trading platform (or in-person) and get caught because the person you've dealt with was an undercover cop or government secret agent.

As for DEXs, I believe no such risk exists. Especially if we're talking about truly-decentralized exchanges based on smart contracts (like Uniswap which is an AMM). You can also use cross-chain bridges to "trade" from one coin to another in a "non-custodial" manner. Atomic Swaps will become a true game-changer in this regard. The ideal way to exchange privacy coins without the added risk. Governments are always trying to find ways to get their noses in people's financial life. So it would be up to you to follow the necessary security precautions to continue enjoying privacy and freedom.