Could it be the end of Bitcoin transactions in Europe?

The European Commission (EC) is set to bring the anonymous transactions in virtual currencies to an end to help tracking of terror groups’ funding. To foster this, the Commission published an action plan that will help reinforce the fight against terrorism financing yesterday. It outlined information on how criminals are looking for new ways quickly that provide lower detection risk of moving their money.

There is no evidence in the plan that points out to finance terrorism being financed by virtual currencies. However, the Commission is certain that there is a possibility and feels that it is in a position to contemplate regulation as one of the continuing efforts to bring terror attacks to an end.

The plan requires the platforms that deal with virtual currency exchange to operate under the capacity of the European Anti-money Laundering Directive so as to ensure that exchanges can reveal who accessed their services and when they were used. According to the action plan, the Commission will as well inspect whether it is viable to include wallet providers of virtual currency.

Bitcoinistas should not feel like they have been left out by the EC since the action plan requires a re-think of how and when to reveal pre-loaded credit cards’ users, without minimising their utility. This is because many of these users are poor who find these cards useful instruments in financial matters because they work as credit cards without necessarily requiring the card holders to be credit-worthy. Consequently, a central register of bank accounts, as well as account holders, is required to be set up in the entire European Union member states.

Meticulous consideration of all exchanges between states and EU members that are known to be great points for money-laundering has not been left out in the action plan as well. About many government responses to situations raised by technologies, this issue remains of value, but pointless at the same time since virtual currencies create a virtue of privacy.

Bitcoin in its advice says, “To defend your privacy, there is need to utilise a new Bitcoin address whenever you accept a new payment. Also, you can make use of several wallets for various functions. In doing this, you will isolate all your exchanges and associating them with each other will not be possible. Those who send you money cannot view your other Bitcoin addresses and what you use them for. ”

Many virtual currency transactions are beyond EU’s reach in such a way that operators will find ways of cashing in cryptocurrencies within Europe. Cryptocurrencies do not allow terrorists to access funds.