Transfers of large crypto assets from anonymous wallets will be restricted under the plan set out to be voted on by EU lawmakers on March 28, 2023.
Reporting from CoinDesk, Wednesday (29/3/2023), on Tuesday, the European Parliament’s Economic and Civil Liberties Committee will vote on a new anti-money laundering (AML) plan after months of wrangling over how to stop the cryptocurrency, Non-Fungible Token ( NFT), and the metaverse used for financial crimes.
Under the current proposal, traders will be prohibited from making or receiving anonymous crypto transfers of more than USD 1,080 or the equivalent of IDR 16.2 million (assuming an exchange rate of IDR 15,062 per US dollar).
If the customer’s identity can be verified or if a regulated crypto provider is involved, the transaction will be allowed. The initial draft of the law was even tougher. However, crypto transfers between private individuals such as large payments between two friends will still be permitted.
The law also prohibits businesses from accepting more than 7,000 euros ($14,000) in cash, and creates a new EU anti-money laundering agency, AMLA. To become law, the measures need to be approved by the European Union Parliament and the European Council, which represents the bloc’s member states.
The council last year sought to ban banks and crypto providers from dealing with privacy-enhancing coins. The parliamentary draft does not appear to have gone that far, but it prohibits anonymous crypto accounts and considers the use of privacy coins, mixers, and tumblers as additional factors to consider when assessing the risk of laundering.
Under the parliamentary plan, EU crypto providers will be prohibited from having a correspondent relationship with any foreign provider that is not registered or licensed anywhere.
The proposal also brings NFT platforms under the purview of money laundering regulations, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to the extent that they are controlled by identified persons.
