The European parliament has approved new legislation for the crypto market that seeks to restrict and monitor anonymous transactions involving cryptoassets. According to the draft legislation, any payment transaction with digital currencies must be identified.
The change applies to cryptoasset payments of any value. In addition, the bill intends to oblige platforms to report transactions with digital currencies above €1,000.
Like cash transactions, cryptocurrencies will fall under the anti-money laundering measures of the AML program. The new rules cite changes even for balances in wallets.
The new law says that users trading in the crypto market must be identified. Transactions through digital wallets that store cryptoassets must also show data about the users.
The EU legislative proposal is seen as a restriction on crypto activity in the bloc of member countries. Parliamentarians also discussed banning transactions on platforms that are not regulated in Europe.
As recently as December 2021, European parliamentarians discussed identifying transactions with digital currencies of any value. However, the measure was only approved on Thursday (March 31).
In total, 90 parliamentarians voted in favor of the legislative proposal on the crypto market. However, the bill faced opposition from some European People’s Party (EPP) MPs, who condemned the inclusion of transactions through wallets in the legislation. EPP’s economic spokesman Markus Ferber said that “such proposals are neither justified nor proportionate”.
