The European Union council is set to start discussing the new anti-money laundering bill aimed at digital asset transactions this Thursday. While the new law would bring some degree of protection and clarity, many crypto enthusiasts oppose it, because it presents a hindrance to innovation and an almost absolute distortion of privacy.
On the surface, the law might seem beneficial, as it would, for example, require that all suspicious activity be reported to the authorities. The community, on the other hand, feels that under proper scrutiny, the law is rather cumbersome when it comes to implementation and would greatly disadvantage small traders with unhosted wallets who only make small payments.
Further criticisms of the community are rooted in the fact that many of the paragraphs of the new bill are based on false beliefs, for example, that cryptocurrencies are mostly used by criminals for illicit activities.
The “call to arms” was first initiated by Coinbase, right after the new bill was announced back in March, with the crypto exchange saying that the new law 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.”
The community now hopes that the European Union has heard some of the concerns of these major industry players and that there might still be some wiggle room left for the unhosted wallets and the small traders. After all, the bill is not yet presented in its final form.