EU Plans to Ban Anonymous Cryptocurrency Wallets

The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, plans to ban anonymous cryptocurrency wallets, Reuters reports.

It aims to force service providers to collect data about those who transfer cryptocurrencies, such as the customer's name, address and age, as well as the name of the recipient.

This is part of the commission's effort to fight terrorism financing and money laundering.

The proposal—whose draft was initially revealed earlier this month—stated that the anonymity of cryptocurrencies would limit the ability to misuse crypto transactions for criminal purposes.

In its statement, the commission claims that the newly proposed law would make Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fully traceable:

Today's amendments will ensure full traceability of crypto-asset transfers, such as bitcoin, and will allow for prevention and detection of their possible use for money laundering or terrorism financing.

In its recent report, Goldman Sachs states that central bank digital currencies will likely be ID-verified to mitigate risks the related to illegal finance.

Last week, the European Central Bank announced the launch of a 24-month digital euro project that will explore the applications of a CBDC.