Some members of the European Union have been discussing the popularity of the decentralized currency bitcoin, and the EU’s political body recently added “digital currencies” to its anti-money laundering statutes. However, the EU commissioner for financial affairs, Pierre Moscovici, explains in a recent interview that at this stage politicians have no plans to “react” just yet to the bitcoin phenomenon.
Also read: Belarus Legalizes Cryptocurrencies and ICOs – Tax-Free for Five Years
The EU Adds Digital Currency Definitions to Existing Legislation, But the Financial Commissioner Says the Political Body Has No Current Plans to Regulate Bitcoin
Bitcoin is trending worldwide, and regulators and bureaucrats from individual countries are discussing the subject quite heavily. Political bodies from the U.S., Asia, and EU have been talking about the many ways they can regulate the cryptocurrency by clamping down on bitcoin businesses and exchanges. Politicians from the EU particularly have been concerned with terrorism financing, money laundering, and tax evasion that they believe can be tied to cryptocurrencies. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on European legislators adding digital currencies to the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive which basically considers currencies like bitcoin to be a “monetary instrument.”
Although spectators believe the EU is “cracking down” on cryptocurrencies the European Union commissioner, Pierre Moscovici says the political body has no plans to regulate them at the moment.
EU Commissioner: “We Don’t Think We Have to React to Bitcoin at This Stage”
In an interview on the broadcast ‘Bloomberg Surveillance,’ with Francine Lacqua, the EU’s financial commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, is explicitly asked about bitcoin and regulating the digital asset.
“Commissioner are you looking at bitcoin at all and does the is the EU planning to take any action to regulate it?” Lacqua asks the EU’s financial affairs commissioner.
“At this stage, we do not consider bitcoin as an alternative currency, not like the euro — We see that there is quite a lot of speculation about that [bitcoin],” Moscovici responds.
Sometimes speculation is overactive or exuberant — We look at that and analyzed the phenomenon, but we don’t think we have to react to bitcoin at this stage as a political and technical body.
Regulatory Conversations for Bitcoin Are Not Happening Right Now
The latest definitions added to the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive include digital currencies and prepaid debit cards which is not much different than the legislation being drafted across many states in the U.S. So Lacqua asks the EU commissioner if politicians and regulators from the region are even “talking about regulating bitcoin.” Moscovici details to the host that regulatory discussions are not so prevalent right now.
“No we are not having those conversations right now,” Moscovici emphasizes.
What do you think about the EU financial commissioner’s statements? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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