Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Sep 05, 2025

EU crackdown on crypto transfers raises privacy concerns

EU crackdown on crypto transfers raises privacy concerns

EU lawmakers voted for measures that would expand anti-money laundering requirements and call for crypto firms to reveal the personal information of their customers.

EU lawmakers have voted in favour of measures requiring cryptocurrency companies to collect and share data that would bar anonymous transactions.

Two EU parliamentary committees, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and the Committee on Civil Liberties (LUBE) voted yesterday to expand anti-money laundering (AML) requirements that apply to conventional payments over €1,000 ($1,115) to the crypto sector.

Back in December, European governments said they wanted to scrap the €1,000 threshold for crypto because digital payments could easily circumvent the limit, and include private wallets that regulated crypto firms do not operate.

The plan will also remove the floor for crypto payments, so payers and recipients of even small crypto transactions would need to be identified, including those with unhosted or self-hosted wallets.

Further measures being deliberated could see unregulated crypto exchanges cut off from the financial system altogether.

“Illicit flows in crypto-assets move largely undetected across Europe and the world, which makes them an ideal instrument for ensuring anonymity,” Ernest Urtasun, co-rapporteur for ECON, said in a statement.

Co-rapporteur for LIBE, Assita Kanko, said that the legislation seeks to protect people against the criminal use of crypto-assets and “normalise the crypto world as it grows” by implementing rules that create trust.

“More than a decade after the creation of Bitcoin, it is high time we took these important steps for our citizens,” Kanko said in a statement.


Members of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) have come out in opposition to Thursday’s vote.

EPP economic spokesperson, MEP Markus Ferber, said he was “personally sceptical” on the issue of banning any technology without a legitimate reason.

“With the provisions added to the transfer of funds regulation, the use of unhosted wallets will become unnecessarily onerous,” Ferber told TRT World in an emailed statement, adding that it will make certain types of crypto usages “fairly unattractive.”

Ferber warned that creating a “burdensome regulatory environment” will be bad for Europe, and “sends the wrong signal about the EU’s openness for innovation.”

“The biggest problem with killing innovation by regulation is that you do not know what you lose in the end,” he said.

Crypto industry reaction


Meanwhile, the crypto sector reacted critically to the EU’s move, one that many industry participants believe will stifle innovation and invade privacy.

Major US crypto exchange Coinbase came out warning that heavy-handed privacy violations could face legal challenges in EU courts.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong warned that under the new rules, the exchange would have to report to the authorities any time a customer received over EUR 1,000 of crypto from a self-hosted wallet.


Pascal Gauthier, chairman and CEO of digital wallet firm Ledger, rebuked the vote, stating that the “EU Parliament chose fear over freedom.”


European decentralised finance (DeFi) firm Unstoppable Finance’s head of strategy and business development Patrick Hansen called the proposals a “big disappointment” and a “threat to individual privacy.”

Hansen noted it would be difficult for crypto service providers to verify an “unhosted” counterpart and warned that to stay compliant and not compromise their legal position, some firms may choose to cut off transactions with unhosted wallets altogether.

Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase, wrote in a March 27 blog that “bad facts make bad law,” prior to the EU’s vote.

“If adopted,” he wrote, “this revision would unleash an entire surveillance regime on exchanges like Coinbase, stifle innovation, and undermine the self-hosted wallets that individuals use to securely protect their digital assets.”

For the new rules to be enacted, they must be passed via trialogue negotiations between the EU Parliament, European Council and the European Commission. If they remain unopposed, it would give the crypto industry nine to 18 months to come into full compliance with the legislation.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
×