EU Finalizes Crypto Money Laundering Rules

BRUSSELS, Belgium– The European Union (EU) finally agreed on landmark anti-money laundering rules for crypto transactions Wednesday, despite industry concerns over the law harming privacy and innovation.

EU lawmakers and government representatives have been meeting over the last three months to hash out a political deal on the bill, which was introduced in July 2021 by the European Commission.

Two sources leaving the meeting, who asked not to be named, told CoinDesk a deal had been reached on the legislation after just over an hour of talks.

In March, lawmakers said they wanted to significantly expand the scope of the bill to include transactions with unhosted digital wallets – those which aren’t managed by a regulated service provider like a licensed crypto exchange – and to have transaction details reported to the authorities regardless of risk.

That drew a cry of protest from industry players, from lobby groups to prominent crypto firms such as Coinbase (COIN), and some legal experts said it could also be considered a disproportionate and unlawful privacy breach.

Late-stage talks on the law were being held in Brussels to find a set of rules agreeable to both the European Parliament, and the Council of the EU which groups the 27 member states and is currently chaired by France. The deal was made in the nick of time, just over one day before France would have had to cede control over talks to the Czech Republic.

The deal, which sets the essential policy lines the final law will take, still needs to be translated into legislative text and gazetted in the EU’s Official Journal.

Read more: Crypto Privacy Positions Harden Ahead of Crunch EU Vote

This is a developing story.