The European Parliament approved on 19 March by a majority of the main committees new anti-money laundering laws that restrict anonymous payments. This includes both those with euro (EUR) cash and digital ones with bitcoins (BTC) and cryptocurrencies.
Specifically, it stipulates that anonymous cash payments above €3,000 for commercial transactions and €10,000 for business transactions will be illegal. In addition, it will prohibit payments in crypto assets, regardless of their size, made with anonymous wallets.
"This means a war on money and a gradual erosion of our financial freedom!" said Patrick Bryer MEP. This was one of the two commissioners who voted against the laws.
"Banning anonymous payments would have at best a minimal effect on crime, but would deprive innocent citizens of their financial freedom," he stressed in denying the Responsibility, which you made on your website. "We are allowed to pay and donate online without our personal transactions being recorded (...). The drugs or sex toys I buy are nobody's business," he added.
"This means a war on money and a gradual erosion of our financial freedom!" said Patrick Bryer MEP. This was one of the two commissioners who voted against the laws.
"Banning anonymous payments would have at best a minimal effect on crime, but would deprive innocent citizens of their financial freedom," he stressed in denying the Responsibility, which you made on your website. "We are allowed to pay and donate online without our personal transactions being recorded (...). The drugs or sex toys I buy are nobody's business," he added.
"When every financial transaction is captured and saved forever, it creates honey for malicious hackers and law enforcement, as well as a chilling government shadow over every purchase or donation."
Patrick Breyer, member of the Pirate Party in the European Parliament and digital freedom campaigner.
The parliamentarian, who opposed the laws, argued that "this kind of financial disenfranchisement must end." "This European Union (EU) war on money will have unpleasant consequences!" he warned.
Payments between anonymous bitcoin wallets are impossible to regulate
Breyer recalled that for thousands of years, societies around the world have lived with cash to protect their financial privacy. In fact, the attempt to protect identity in the holdings and movement of capital gave rise to bitcoin fifteen years ago, the first digital currency that can be stored independently in a wallet that is impossible to confiscate.
"If the EU believes it can regulate virtual currencies on a regional level, it has not understood the global nature of the internet," Breyer stressed. To clarify, she clarified that the new rules "would be easy to circumvent" as bitcoins and cryptocurrencies can be sent between two anonymous wallets with separate protection.
"Virtual assets can be transferred directly from one person to another without the use of intermediaries, making them impossible to regulate," he explained. He therefore suggested that the laws were meaningless.
Further, it is pointed out that in cases where virtual assets have been found in criminal activities in the past, prosecution has been possible without these rules. This was achieved, he said, by investigating movements along the chain that made it possible to find identities.
At the moment, the date on which the laws will enter into force has not yet been set, but it could be within a three-year period. This European Union initiative comes a week after bitcoin reached a new all-time high price of $73,700 (USD) due to higher demand.