New European rules make cryptocurrency transactions more secure

European legislation for cryptocurrency transactions is now a fact. The identification rules that apply to regular monetary transactions will soon also apply to transactions in cryptocurrencies. According to MEP Assita Kanko, who was involved in the negotiations for the agreement, the new law is necessary in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism: “The crypto world is hardly regulated, and criminals are taking advantage of this to operate in complete anonymity. That is now coming to an end. Payments with crypto assets will be traceable, in line with the rules for traditional payments.”

“Criminals and terrorists will soon have a very difficult time if they still want to use Bitcoins,” Assita Kanko says. Together with Ernest Urtasun of the Groen party, she negotiated new rules for crypto assets that were finally voted on in the European Parliament. The regulation will then be able to enter into force throughout the EU. “The cryptocurrency sector has been hit by scandals and bankruptcies in the past. People are therefore increasingly in favour of normal regulations for cryptocurrency transactions,” Kanko says.

Small amounts, big crimes

When buying and selling crypto assets, personal data will also soon have to be disclosed even for small amounts, as is already standard practice for bank Transfers The money flows from Flanders to Brussels and Wallonia are called transfers. The transfers from the federal budget, the Financing Law and social security amount to between 6 and 7 billion euros per year, and 11 billion euros if debt repayments are included. The size of the transfers is always contested by the French-speaking side or they are just referred to as normal solidarity contributions. A study by Vives (KU Leuven) revealed that the transfers did not serve solidarity, but had a paralysing effect on the growth of both the Walloon and Flemish economies. transfers . “But a threshold of EUR 1,000, such as for bank transfers, is actually rather pointless in the crypto world. Big crimes are often hidden in small amounts. There are fundraising activities by terrorists of around EUR 100 and payments to child porn websites of EUR 10 or EUR 20,” Kanko said in the plenary debate.

Important step

This agreement is an important step forward in treating cryptocurrency as a normal sector of the economy. “This new European legislation is based on a neutral approach to crypto asset trading and makes no moral judgement on it. The aim is to regulate a new and dynamic sector,” says Assita Kanko.

Safer for citizens, harder for criminals

“This package of measures will make owning and trading crypto assets safer for ordinary citizens and more difficult for criminals, terrorists and sanctions evaders.”