European Union’s executive arm is not letting up the fight against the use of digital currency to fund terror groups.
The EU Commission (EC) previously called to bring an end to bitcoin exchanges’ anonymity through an action plan that will require the exchanges to report who used their services and when they were used. Now, EC is proposing another directive to prevent the use of cryptocurrency and its underlying technology for terrorist financing.
This time, the commission wants a central database that will have records of bitcoin and virtual currency users’ identities and wallet addresses, which will be accessible to financial intelligence units of member countries.
The proposal aims to address the gaps in the governments’ oversight of terror group’s unlawful financial tactics—such as using digital currencies—while also “avoiding unnecessary obstacles to the functioning of payments and financial markets for ordinary, law-abiding citizens and businesses.”