European authorities are gradually moving forward on the Mica regulation, if you missed it, 2 weeks ago, the European Council proposed a new law to fight money laundering in the Eurozone. This new rule requires all crypto exchanges to undergo a rigorous check for any transaction over €1,000.
Crypto transfers over €1,000 subject to strict controls!
During a meeting on December 7, the Council of the European Union first expressed its opinion on traditional payments. It proposed to limit cash payments to €10,000.
It then addressed the subject of cryptocurrencies by proposing a new rule to ensure that cryptos comply with anti-money laundering law: stricter controls on every transaction worth €1,000 or more.
According to the council, this decision is in line with the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Despite the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA) and the revised Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR), the European Council suggests to strengthen the control. Thus, the European Union has asked Exchanges to collect and verify information about their customers via a KYC (Know Your Customer).
Regarding anonymous users of cryptos, the European Council optimistically stated that this will now be impossible.
Large cash payments will become impossible. Staying anonymous when buying or selling cryptos will become much more difficult. Hiding behind multi-company setups will no longer work. It’s even going to be complicated to launder dirty money through jewelers or goldsmiths.
The European Union
However, this is still a proposal. It has to be validated by the European Parliament before being implemented. Nevertheless, the application of this law seems very complex and difficult to execute. Especially with the existence of hardware wallet like Ledger keys where KYC is not in force.
A new tax is coming
As good news never comes alone, another proposal has been submitted: a new tax. That’s right, as of January 1, 2026, any company providing cryptocurrency-related services will be required to report all its transactions from the moment the service is provided to European residents.
So we still have some time before this law is implemented.
FTX bankruptcy an excuse to tighten crypto regulations in Europe
We must dry up all the financial circuits of terrorism down to the last euro.
Bruno Lemaire, Minister of Finance
With this statement, Bruno Lemaire, the French Minister of Finance reinforced his boldness to convince himself that he will fight with his colleagues against anonymous crypto transactions. He had expressed this on his Twitter account in December 2020.
The narrative about financing illicit activities (money laundering, terrorist financing) is strongly embedded in the discourse of politicians opposing cryptos. Although statistics have proven otherwise, politicians have never been willing to face reality…
Since the collapse of Terra Luna and the bankruptcy of FTX, regulators have found a golden excuse to reinforce their skepticism about crypto assets. Currently, many are looking to tighten the laws on cryptocurrencies.
In the United Kingdom, the central bank is taking the opportunity to move forward with its digital pound project. In the European Union, with the MiCa law set to go into effect in 2024, new voices are beginning to be heard.
The EU plans to register all crypto providers (Exchanges, crypto companies, users) with the famous CASP, inspired by PSAN in France. Stablecoin issuers are not spared either. Their reserve will have to meet the 1:1 ratio to ensure that they will be able to pay back customers at any time. Finally, investors will also have to pay taxes on their crypto savings.
As you can see, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are on the chopping block in the old continent. We fear that these restrictive measures could stunt the growth of the crypto industry.
As a journalist at Coinpri, I’ve been captivated by the world of bitcoin and blockchain since 2020. The decentralized aspect of Bitcoin particularly piqued my interest. Since then, I’ve been working constantly to spread my knowledge, hoping one day to see a world where everyone fully enjoys their financial freedom.
