Crypto Asset Transfers to be put under New EU Regulation

Crypto Asset Transfers to be put under New EU Regulation

On Friday, July 9, the European Commission proposes forming a new agency. Their aim will be to crack down on money laundering activities since crypto-asset transfers are not currently under its scope.

It asserts that the lack of regulations leaves crypto-asset holders exposed to money laundering. Additionally, they risk the possibility of financing terrorism.

This is because the flows of illegal money can be made through cryptocurrency transfers.

The European Commission also added that laundering of money, terrorist financing, and organized crime are still significant problems that need to be addressed at the Union level.

Therefore, its solution to this is to make a new Anti-Money Laundering Authority that will investigate the system, including national regulators.

Among its principal objectives is to make increased reporting requirements around crypto transactions.

Also, the new agency will supervise and take decisions towards some of the riskiest cross-border financial sectors.

Moreover, European lawmakers draft new qualifications for Virtual Asset Service Providers. They will order tight data collection standards surrounding institutions that make crypto transactions.

The collected data will also be available to the region’s regulators

The EU is now under pressure to strengthen its anti-money laundering requirements.

This was after several member states investigated Danske Bank, which is the largest financial institution in Denmark.

Between 2007 and 2015, over 200 billion euros worth of skeptical transactions flowed through its small Estonian branch.

The EU does not have a supranational regulatory institution for the specific purpose of regulating money laundering. Because of this, it had to rely on national authorities to enforce its policies.

On the same day, in the United States, a senator is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to also crack down on the digital asset markets.

She said that the SEC must use its full authority to address the risks of crypto-asset manipulation.

Binance Blocked in China

Binance, which is the leading cryptocurrency exchange platform, is now on the growing list of blacklisted websites in China.

Its initial location was within the country, but it had to relocate overseas in 2017 due to the government’s strict crypto ban.

Since that year, Chinese authorities have been tightening their cryptocurrency regulations to control the capital flows.

An analyst said that blacklisting Binance is arguably part of the nation’s crack down on crypto, which shows the eradication of the entire Bitcoin mining industry last month.

Moreover, cryptocurrency users said that they have been unable to search for famous crypto exchanges on Chinese internet services since June.

There have been reports that these websites like Baidu, Weibo, Zhihu, and Sogo had possible censorship regarding crypto exchanges platforms.

However, as of early July, Huobi and OKEx, which are the rivals of Binance, are still available in China.