The EU Iron Fist to Hit Bitcoin and Other Digital Payments

Triggered by the Paris and Brussels attacks, the proposed EU directive seeks to introduce stricter rules on the use of virtual currencies and prepaid cards.
How will this affect Bitcoin and digital payments in general? CoinTelegraph spoke to Sin Jones, Founder of European Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Forum, about the proposal and its possible outcomes.
Anti-Money Laundering Directive
As Sin Jones told us, EU officials had been working on the new law since February, talking with virtual currency and prepaid card stakeholders and others, to draft the proposed new directive amending the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive.
The primary driver behind the proposals has been to remove anonymity from payments in order to combat terrorist financing, action triggered by the Paris (and later Brussels) attacks. At present, they are just proposals for a new directive.
However, the proposals are very likely to be adopted by the European Council and European Parliament (become law). The directive then has to be harmonised into national legislation in the 28 member states. However, the European Commission is pushing for harmonisation of the 4th AMLD to be completed by 1 Jan 2017.
Dmitry Lazarichev, Founder at Wirex Ltd, notes:

This post was published at Coin Telegraph on 2016-07-08.