European Parliament Approves Legislation to Trace Crypto Transfers

The European Parliament last week approved legislation that could allow the EU to better trace certain transfers of crypto-assets and block “suspicious transactions.” The legislation, which must be endorsed by the European Council before becoming law, “will make it more difficult for criminals, terrorists and sanctions evaders to misuse crypto assets,” Parliament member Assita Kanko, of Belgium, said.

The law would cover transactions above €1,000 from “so-called self-hosted wallets” when “they interact with hosted wallets managed by crypto-assets service providers,” the Parliament said in a press release. The rules don’t apply to “person-to-person transfers conducted without a provider or among providers acting on their own behalf.“ Kanko said any “administrative burden on crypto companies and innovators” introduced by the legislation “will be more than offset by the fact that we are unifying the currently fragmented European market that has 27 regulatory regimes.”