The cryptocurrency community exhaled on the clarification of yesterday's statements of the European Commission regulators.
In a nutshell: yesterday, the European Union proposed to introduce a ban on all anonymous transactions with cryptocurrency as part of a broad plan to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The EU plans to implement a number of proposals to strengthen the supervision of financial transactions, as well as to create a new supervisory body staffed by 250 people, which will oversee risky financial institutions and their transactions. Here, most likely, we are talking about cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial organizations that are engaged in the purchase, sale, and exchange of cryptocurrencies. Apparently, in the near future, a ban on monetary transactions on such assets for more than €10,000 will be introduced.
Against this background, the bitcoin exchange rate sank significantly, however, after the crypto community studied the document in more detail, it became clear that everything is far from what was said in the statement. It is unclear why the context related to the ban on anonymous transactions and accounts was pulled out. Either this is a gross mistake or a deliberate misrepresentation to "annoy".
So what is wrong, you ask?
Claims that European Commission regulators will soon ban anonymous cryptocurrency wallets are not true. In this case, it means that instead of a ban on the use of anonymous cryptocurrency wallets, the EU will establish stricter, but justified rules for operators and financial service providers in this direction. First of all, we are talking about exchanges, financial companies and the banking sector, which already provide depository services for the storage and exchange of cryptocurrencies. The new rules will affect precisely the movement of capital. With the help of these measures (mainly), the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism is now being carried out. The rules prohibit the provision of anonymous services, such as the creation of accounts (wallets for cryptocurrency) or its exchange, provided by a third party. There was no talk about a ban on personal cryptocurrency wallets and a ban on the use of software for this purpose.
The EC noted that citizens will be able to freely acquire, store and spend cryptocurrency anonymously, but on condition that you do not engage in criminal activity. In this case, anonymity will not last long.
As I noted in yesterday's review, the introduction of a ban on anonymous cryptocurrency wallets, in fact, imposes a ban on the entire industry, since almost every cryptocurrency wallet is anonymous by default.
Experts point out that due to the lack of qualified specialists in this field, the attempt to regulate cryptocurrencies is too often carried out by people who know almost nothing about the technology. Therefore, such errors are obtained out of the blue. But some do not exclude the fact of a special injection of this kind of information to probe the market and study the reaction to this news. It seems incredible that a high-ranking EU commissioner, whose staff is professional, could make such an incorrect statement. The cryptocurrency community explains it this way: the EU knows it cannot ban anonymous wallets, but by hiding the difference between custodian wallets and self-storage software, they can mislead some part of the population.
Another issue that worries the community is the new era of digital currency. In the not too distant future, every time you buy a cup of coffee, someone, somewhere, might know about it. This is the main problem with the new digital dollar, euro or yuan, or any other currency. But aside from the retail consumer, digital currencies, including cryptocurrencies, pose a "fundamental threat" to central banks around the world, as they simply exclude banks from the system as they will no longer be needed. Everything will be managed by the Central Bank, excluding intermediaries from the general picture.
In turn, governments say they are developing their own digital currencies in order to increase trust in payment systems and increase consumer confidence. But they forget to say the most important thing: in using this kind of digital asset, you completely lose your privacy.
As for the technical picture of bitcoin, its rebound from $29,000 is a good signal for the market. If we see a breakdown of $29,200 in the near future, then it is unlikely that something will stop bitcoin on the way to test the $25,700 minimum, and then the $21,600 area. Most likely, only there will we see a return of big players to the market and a set of new positions. So far, there has been no serious movement of bitcoin to cryptocurrency exchanges, which indicates the nerves of steel investors. It will be possible to say that the situation has returned to normal only after BTC returns to the $32,400 level and consolidates above this range. Only after that, the upward correction will continue to the $36,000 area, and it will be possible to talk about the resistance test at $41,100.
