The European Parliament continued to keep crypto users and advocates at the edge of their seats last week as yet another piece of potentially harmful legislation — this time, a set of demanding data disclosure requirements for digital asset service providers — was rushed to a vote mere days after a near miss on banning proof-of-work-based cryptocurrencies. Unlike the relatively happy resolution of the Markets in Crypto Assets framework situation, the EU’s new Anti-Money Laundering rules retained all the crypto-hostile language as they are going into the next round of consideration, the so-called trialogue negotiations. If the rules are enacted …

The crypto industry has reacted strongly against a EU Parliament committee voting in favor of a regulatory package for tighter know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) rules for ”unhosted” private wallets. The new guidelines would require crypto service providers — most commonly exchanges — to verify the identity of every individual behind an unhosted wallet that interacts with them, while any transaction greater than 1,000 Euros ($1,100) would need to be reported to authorities. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong vented his frustrations against the move via Twitter, as he drew comparisons with fiat to highlight the absurdity of reporting and verifying …

The American exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider WisdomTree continues expanding its cryptocurrency products in Europe by launching three new crypto exchange-traded products (ETP) backed by Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (DOT). WisdomTree announced Tuesday the launch of three new physically-backed crypto ETPs, including WisdomTree Solana (SOLW), WisdomTree Cardano (ADAW) and WisdomTree Polkadot (DOTW). The ETPs are already listed on major European digital exchanges like Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra, the Swiss SIX exchange and the Swiss Stock Exchange. The pan-European exchange Euronext is expected to list the crypto ETPs in Amsterdam and Paris on Thursday, the announcement notes. The ETPs are designed …

Austria has been actively transforming into an attractive location for providers of blockchain-based products, with the government itself experimenting with the technology and trying to create a legal basis upon which companies can use it. With regard to blockchain-based applications in the economy, however, Austria is still in the experimental phase, with most firms still running pilot projects. Still, politicians and economists alike see potential for select industries. Public administration reform via blockchain The Austrian government is quite open to blockchain innovations, cryptocurrencies aside, and has supported various projects in the public and private sectors. In 2019, a consortium of …

Less than a week after a potential ban on Proof-of-Work (PoW) digital assets was dropped from the EU’s prospective MiCA framework, a new threat to the crypto industry could be emerging in the European Union. This time, it is non-custodial, or unhosted, wallets that are in regulators’ crosshairs. On Thursday, March 31, the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs will vote on an anti-money laundering (AML) regulatory package that seeks to revise the current Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) in a way that extends the requirement of financial institutions to attach information on the transacting parties to crypto …

The much-dreaded prospect of a ban on cryptocurrencies that use proof-of-work (PoW) consensus is making its way into a key European digital asset directive appears to have blown over. March 24 marked the last day when the European Parliament could stop the current draft of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) from proceeding to further consideration. The proponents of outlawing operations with PoW-based digital assets could not muster enough support to challenge the bill's current version, meaning that MiCa will safely pass on to be reviewed in tripartite meetings between the European Parliament, European Commission and European Council. On March …

Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) dodged a regulatory bullet in the European Union when proposed cryptocurrency legislation was altered to not include a ban on proof-of-work- (PoW)-based crypto assets. Policymakers had raised a number of concerns about the relative anonymity of crypto transactions and their environmental impact. Some experts including Tim Frost, founder and CEO of Yield App, believe that the “climate change” angle reflects a hidden attempt to ban Bitcoin. But, why? The proposed EU regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) can be seen as a hybrid approach, which sometimes treats crypto assets as securities and at other times …

The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde has reiterated warnings that Russian individuals and businesses are using cryptocurrencies to skirt sanctions. However, as of March 18, daily ruble-denominated crypto trading volume was sitting at just $7.4 million, down over 50% from recent figures and a peak of $70 million on March 7, according to data from Chainalysis. This amount represents a tiny slither of the total global crypto market volume, with Bitcoin’s total daily volume generally fluctuating between $20 billion and $40 billion. In a presentation at the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Summit on Tuesday, the crypto …

The Bitcoin network’s on-chain activity still appears to be in a bear market as U.S. and E.U. buyers are struggling to stay ahead of sellers based in Asia. Blockchain analytics firm Glassnode’s latest report on the weekly activity of the Bitcoin (BTC) network shows that the price of the largest crypto by market cap has stayed firmly within the same tight $5,000 range from $37,680 to $42,312. However, on March 22 the asset saw a sudden spike in price which elevated prices to a two-week high. Overall, the network is in a demonstrable lull according to Glassnode’s weekly review: “Bitcoin …

Proof-of-work (PoW) crypto mining won’t be banned in the European Union — not this year at least. That’s the conclusion from last week’s closely watched committee vote in the European Parliament (EP). A last-minute amendment presented by an ad hoc coalition of social democrats and Greens would have established a de facto ban on proof-of-work mining — the type of consensus mechanisms used by native cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) — has been decisively rejected. The crypto community can breathe easily, but some still worry that the industry’s problem with its energy-intensive consensus protocols remains. “My first reaction …

The proposed European Union Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, (hereinafter the “regulation”) was put to a vote in the European Union Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on March 14, 2022, and in the end, the proposed amendment to ban or restrict proof-of-work-based crypto assets, which would have effectively resulted in a ban on Bitcoin (BTC), was rejected. The question of how crypto assets will be assessed from an environmental regulation perspective remains, however, with the Member of the European Parliament in charge of the text indicating that crypto assets will be included, like all other …

Dušan Matuska is — among many other things — a Bitcoin educator and consultant. The Slovak’s dream is to educate 100 million people about Bitcoin by 2030 through talks, podcasts, webinars, workshops and even a Bitcoin education center in a far-flung destination (plans are currently under wraps). Alongside his Bitcoin teaching aspirations, he assists on a small-scale Bitcoin mining facility in Slovakia, he co-founded the crypto café known as Paralelni Polis in the country’s capital, Bratislava and he’s translated well-known Bitcoin books into his native tongue, Slovak. But, how did he get here? And, what does meeting Satoshi have to …