New EU draft law seeks to monitor bitcoin users

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) continue to seek to end bitcoin’s anonymity.

Last week, the parliament drafted a new proposal that seeks to extend the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD), published in May 2015, to include virtual currencies like bitcoin.

The proposal states that “competent authorities should be able to monitor the use of virtual currencies,” whose anonymity could be a “hindrance than an asset” especially when the cryptocurrency is used for criminal purposes. The draft law, if approved, will require watchdogs from EU member countries to identify bitcoin users by their bitcoin addresses.

“To combat the risks related to the anonymity, national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) should be able to associate virtual currency addresses to the identity of the owner of virtual currencies,” the proposal stated. “In addition, the possibility to allow users to self-declare to designated authorities on a voluntary basis should be further assessed.”