EU authorities have changed their mind about banning anonymous cryptocurrencies

EU authorities have changed their mind about banning anonymous cryptocurrencies
The European Parliament will consider replacing the term "non-custodial wallet" with "non-custodial address" in anti-money laundering rules

European Union authorities have changed their mind about banning anonymous cryptocurrency wallets, The Block reports. Changes to EU anti-money laundering regulations show that anonymous (non-custodial) wallets should not be banned, but they will still be subject to transaction restrictions.

Prohibiting wallets was supposed to ensure full traceability of transfers of crypto assets such as bitcoin and allow the prevention and detection of the possible use of digital funds for money laundering or terrorist financing.

We are talking about self-hosted, self-custody wallets whose passwords are stored only with the user himself. The changes submitted to the European Parliament for discussion suggest replacing the word "non-custodial wallet" with "non-custodial address," which clarifies politicians' intentions to control users' accounts but not to ban non-custodial services at the same time.

With this change, politicians are seeking to clarify their goal of preventing wallets without a link to an identified account on a crypto service, such as an exchange, Tommaso Astaci, head of regulatory affairs at lobby group Blockchain for Europe, told the publication. The previous wording could mean that crypto-service providers in the EU would be banned from providing any non-custodial services.

Anonymous wallets would still be subject to a €1k transaction limit if the owner cannot be identified.

EU authorities have changed their mind about banning anonymous cryptocurrencies

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