EC fights money laundering - what awaits bitcoin?

The European Commission has published draft new rules for combating the financing of terrorism and money laundering. A single supranational regulator, the Office for Combating Money Laundering, will be created, the decisions of which will have to be obeyed in all countries of the European Union. In addition, the commission intends to control the circulation of crypto assets and will try to audit the activities of crypto banks. If the rules work, then payment operators will have to collect (and disclose on demand) the data of participants in transactions with cryptocurrencies. Anonymous encrypted wallets will be prohibited. A list of countries registered with encryption structures that pose a threat to EU finances will also be created.

 

Cryptocurrencies have many benefits for different consumer groups. For example, decentralization and independence from central banks are important for idealists who dream that the world's population itself, without bureaucratic superstructures, regulates its finances. But the anonymity of transactions is probably an important key advantage today for those who buy and pay for services today. For hackers who demand a crypto ransom to unblock a system, the anonymity of payments is most likely much more important than all other properties. The European Commission intends to eliminate this advantage.

 

Global IT Strategy - by Joseph Marc Blumenthal

Invest in international IT companies that, as the pandemic ends and emerges from a difficult economic situation, become the architects of the new economy.

Naturally, in order to show the importance of establishing new management, the European Commission listed a very impressive number of suspicious transaction losses, which accounted for approximately 1% of annual GDP. This means about 150 billion euros. If we extrapolate this to the entire world, then in dollar terms we will get $ 800 billion - not so incomparable with the amount of damage from cybercriminals announced by our president of $ 6 trillion. All such estimates are very imprecise. In addition, the entire capitalization of crypto markets is about $ 2 trillion, and they are certainly used not only for suspicious transactions. However, given these orders of magnitude, it is difficult to justify that tens of billions of dollars in suspicious transactions are fantastic. This means that the European Commission must somehow react.

Bitcoin is now worth $ 31.5 thousand, and the decision of the European Commission is unlikely to affect its rate. On the last day, the rate has grown from $ 29.8 thousand. This refutes the rough statement that cryptocurrencies are sold and bought only by hackers and scammers. However, they are likely to represent only 5% of the transaction. Stimulating the economy gave an inflow of funds that allowed a wider circle of people to invest in unusually risky assets - so we got not only expensive bitcoin but also an IPO boom, and high-tech prices that increased in price. To revive the exchange rate, new buyers and extra money are needed, and for a sharp drop - powerful ideas about what to shift to those who are now in the crypt.