European Union Begins Legislation on Controlling Bitcoin Transactions

European Union Begins Legislation on Controlling Bitcoin Transactions

The subject of control in Europe is a subject of great news publication on an international scale. In eastern Europe, the Ukraine, NATO, and Russia are playing war games for control of this strategic area. The Muslim and Islamic migration from the Middle East throughout the European Union has apparently compromised the safety and control of many nations. Yet, these issues of personal safety and potential for war and mass violence do not seem to be as important to some legislators as controlling Bitcoin’s future.

Although it has already been proven by Great Britain to not be a source of terrorist funding or illegal use, the European Council is working to gain control over the use of Bitcoin. The European Commission, a deficit senate or parliament for the European Union, held a press conference in Brussels on the matter of finance and will begin to attempt to regulate Bitcoin’s use in the near future.

"By June at the latest we will propose measures to.....have better control of payment forms such as virtual currencies and anonymous pre-paid cards. In June the Commission will come up with an ‘EU blacklist’ of such countries,” said the vice commissioner of the European Council, Valdis Dombrovskis .

In October, the HK treasury released their extensive report called “UK National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing .” Inside, it revealed that cash and banking were the primary weaknesses of “The War on Terror,” and Bitcoin was among the least likely to be used for illegal purposes, whether it was terrorism financing, money laundering, or other concerns.

Europol also has done research on the matter of ISIS and their funding methods. Their report, “ Changes in modus operandi of Islamic State terrorist attacks ,” also failed to link terrorism and Bitcoin or cryptocurrency, in general. Unlike the HM Treasury report, this report was released after the attacks in Paris, in December of 2015.

"There is no evidence however of IS-financing networks in existence. Despite third party reporting suggesting the use of anonymous currencies like Bitcoin by terrorists to finance their activities, this has not been confirmed by law enforcement,” said the report. “ISIS/ISIL terrorist cells currently operating in the EU are largely domestic and/or locally based."

The November 13th terrorist attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead due to gunfire in restaurants and the Bataclan Theatre, have become leverage for greater regulation on guns and capital controls.

Greater AML/KYC controls over Bitcoin exchanges have been added, and more are planned throughout 2016. How Bitcoin transactions will be restricted and how the punishment of an entire country’s people for the actions of a few will be justified is unknown and will be revealed at a later time.

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Original post : http://www.bitcoingeek.me/european-union-begins-legislation-controlling-bitcoin-transactions/

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