TechFlow news, according to Coindesk, EU lawmakers today voted in favor of controversial measures to ban anonymous crypto transactions, a move the industry says will stifle innovation and infringe on privacy. The proposal aims to extend anti-money laundering requirements currently applied to conventional payments exceeding 1,000 euros ($1,114) to the cryptocurrency sector. It also removes the threshold for crypto payments, meaning even the smallest transactions must identify both sender and recipient—including those using non-custodial or self-hosted wallets. Further measures under discussion could lead to unregulated crypto exchanges being cut off from the traditional financial system.
Governments stated in December that they wanted to eliminate the 1,000-euro crypto threshold because digital payments can easily circumvent this limit and involve private wallets operated by unregulated crypto asset providers. These plans must still be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union—the body representing national ministers—before becoming law.
Following the vote, bitcoin's price dropped about 2% within minutes, falling from $47,500 to $46,400.
