There are many draconial provisions in the upcoming #EU #AML Regulation both for cash and to p2p #bitcoin transactions (self-hosted wallets and use of mixers).
Some examples:
(33b) The introduction of a Union-wide limit to large cash payment mitigates the risks associated with the use of large cash payments. However, obliged entities that carry out transactions in cash below this amount remain vulnerable to risks of money laundering and terrorist financing as they provide a point of entry into the Union’s financial system. Therefore, it is necessary to require the application of customer due diligence measures to mitigate the risks of misuse of cash. To ensure that the measures are proportionate with the risks posed by transactions of a value lower than EUR 10 000, such measures should be limited to the identification and verification of the customer and the beneficial owner when carrying out occasional transactions in cash of at least EUR 3 000. This provision does not relieve the obliged entity from conducting all customer due diligence measures whenever there is a suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing, or from reporting suspicious transactions to the FIU.
(93) The anonymity of crypto-assets exposes them to risks of misuse for criminal purposes. Anonymous crypto-asset ▌accounts as well as other anonymising instruments, do not allow the traceability of crypto-asset transfers, whilst also making it difficult to identify linked transactions that may raise suspicion or to apply to adequate level of customer due diligence. In order to ensure effective application of AML/CFT requirements to crypto-assets, it is necessary to prohibit the provision and the custody of anonymous crypto-asset ▌accounts or accounts allowing for the anonymisation or the increased obfuscation of transactions by crypto-asset service providers, including through anonymity-enhancing coins. The prohibition does not apply to providers of hardware and software or providers of self-hosted wallets insofar as they do not possess access to or control over those crypto-assets wallets.
As we were said by the EU Commission, “the ban on crypto-asset payments not intermediated by a crypto-asset service provider has not been retained given the absence of technical means of enforcing such a requirement at present”. But that exactly shows the direction of the regulatory approach.
This is a huge deterioration of financial and privacy rights after EU Commission and Council put pressure on the EU Parliament and removed all provisions in favor for individual rights, privacy and financial inclusion.
We need your support guys, before it is too late. Final vote on April 22nd.
Full text you can find here:
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-6220-2024-REV-1/en/pdf
Not to mention, the €3,000 figure will not be adjusted for inflation overtime.
How much will €3,000 be in 10 years? 20 years? Purchases of that size will eventually become more common, and governments will be able to automatically increase their scope of surveillance without having to introduce new laws.
#bitcoin
That is why we need to act now, before it is too late and be vocal before the 22nd of April.
We need to concentrate our efforts on the three priorities to change negative language in the regulations:
1. We need support to make it as public as possible that increased AML regulation without provisions to protect privacy and financial freedoms will lead to financial exclusion, human rights violations and abuse. Individual cases of human rights violations, where banking data was abused or people were financially excluded, social use cases of #bitcoin should be discussed as broadly as possible.
2. We need to know citizens of the EU what consequences of such regulation mean for their banking data, if someone decides to abuse it and how #bitcoin servers a remedy for such abuses.
3. We need to change this perception by engaging with elected officials, civil society representatives, and all those with political influence.
This way, they will support our cause and help us protect our financial rights.
We at @ODFoundation are working to make this happen. But to do so, we need your all possible support.
We need you to write articles, reach out to your local officials before the vote on April 22nd, message influential journalists, help us to fundraise to conduct advocacy work and overall, become a spokesperson about the importance of legally protecting our financial freedoms.
If you have more ideas of how to help, let me know in the comments!
