EU Commission Wants Increased Oversight Over Bitcoin as it's "Used by Terrorists"

Another high ranking European bureaucrat is again talking about Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw Read this Term as a tool used by terrorists without presenting any evidence or research on the matter. The European Commission is proposing a number of updates to the rules they want to rush through for the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, only introduced last year, using the recent attacks in Paris to advance this aim.

Under the banner of confronting emerging threats to European national security, the vice president of the commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, says: "We want to improve the oversight of the many financial means used by terrorists, from cash and cultural artifacts to virtual currencies and anonymous pre-paid cards, while avoiding unnecessary obstacles to the functioning of Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term and financial markets for ordinary, law-abiding citizens."

As was widely expected in the industry before, according to the new rules revealed at this time, bitcoin exchanges will have to comply with tougher anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, adhere to know your client (KYC) procedures and no longer support anonymous transactions.

Assuming the commission actually believes cryptocurrencies are terror funding funnels, further steps might be coming as people can simply trade off-exchange for nefarious or other reasons. However last week, the commission’s Olivier Salles indicated that the EU executive body prefers not to create new regulations specifically for the field as it might hurt innovation.