Outgoing Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin caused an outcry on Dec. 18, when the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced the new rule requiring banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and other money services businesses to collect know-your-customer (KYC) data about anyone who wants to transfer $3,000 or more to or from an “unhosted” wallet.
Citing customer privacy concerns brought on by strict new European Union anti-money laundering laws, three cryptocurrency companies announced plans to shut down in December. The first was bitcoin gaming platform Chopcoin, which announced in November that it would close on Dec. 16. The company cited “regulatory concerns [that would] force KYC on our users.” KYC stands for “know your customer” banking regulations used to fight money laundering and combat the financing of terrorism (CFT). The other two firms planning to close up shop this month, Simplecoin and Bottle Pay, also cited moral principles. They refused to go along with the European Union’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive regulations, which come into force on…
Here’s a beautiful turn of phrase from a Chinese central bank executive talking about its forthcoming national digital currency: “controllable anonymity.”
Central bank digital currencies are all the rage, but making them work is far easier said than done, according to a new report. While there are many potential benefits from a central bank digital currency (CBDC), they also bring serious financial risks, according to IBM Blockchain and the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF).
