Jacek Czarnecki is an attorney at Warsaw-based law firm Wardynski & Partners, where he specializes in areas including FinTech, digital currencies and blockchain. In this opinion piece, Czarnecki discusses recent proposals for EU digital currency regulation, arguing suggestions made by the European Banking Authority are more positive than they initially appeared. The European Commission’s proposal to regulate digital currency exchanges and custodial wallets has a bit of a bad rep. Announced in July , the executive branch of the European Union is advising that wallet providers be brought under the scope of its anti-money laundering (AML) and countering terrorist financing (CTF) regulations, and doing so has raised many controversies. Perhaps most notable have been the European Commission’s proposed definition of "virtual currencies" and its alleged proposal to build a database of users. Both have stoked concerns in the industry. New topics can be expected to emerge in the course of legislative process, but the most recent voice to complicate the discussion is the European Banking Authority (EBA). The regulatory agency recently published its opinion on the proposal, and some its suggestions haven’t been greeted favorably. In the past, the EBA has issued a warning to consumers on risks related to digital currencies and a formal opinion on how it believes regulation should be approached. It’s perhaps the latter document that bears revisiting, as it was here that the EBA proposed bringing select digital currency businesses under the AML and CTF rules, an idea now embraced by the Commission. EBA knows the matter What is worth noting is that, despite the criticisms for the organization, the EBA has its finger on the pulse. What’s more, its comments reveal an understanding of the issues related to digital currency. This is evidenced in EBA’s finding that the use of the word "currency" […]
