Dutch Bitcoin Companies Start Initiative to Adjust Proposed European Union AML-Directive

The European Commission published a draft directive last week proposing to amend existing anti-money laundering rules to include virtual currencies such as bitcoin. If adopted, exchanges as well as custodial wallet providers will need to collect customers’ identity documents and report suspicious activity on their platform to relevant authorities.
In an attempt to avoid regulatory overreach, a group of Dutch Bitcoin startups and experts is now reaching out to the Dutch Ministry of FInance offering their expertise, hoping to potentially adjust the proposed directive amendment.
Uncertainty still exists over the extent of the proposed directive; in particular over what are considered “wallet providers offering custodial services of credentials necessary to access virtual currencies.”

This post was published at Nasdaq on July 14, 2016,.