The EU intends to amend the anti-money laundering law to strictly manage virtual currencies such as Bitcoin

The European Parliament (EP) recently released a new report, which mentioned Bitcoin and other digital currencies for the first time. Combating Bitcoin money laundering has also become an important goal of the European Commission (EC) in 2017.

Before being elected as President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker has already outlined his policy priorities, which are likely to become the guidelines for the European Commission in the next five years. With a focus on "big things", Juncker has listed ten areas that need reform to ensure that the public can feel the concrete results.

This latest report mentioned digital currency for the first time, calling it virtual currency.

The role of digital currency

The European Parliament’s 2016 priorities do not mention any digital or virtual currencies.

In this report, the term virtual currency appears in the column of combating terrorism.

In July 2016, the European Commission further tightened the management of the use of digital currencies and planned to amend the fourth version of the Anti-Money Laundering Law in 2015 to completely end the anonymity of digital currency transactions.

The report mentioned:

Amending anti-money laundering laws could safeguard the flow of funds to certain high-risk third world countries, give the EU's financial intelligence unit certain powers, ensure the registration of central banks and payment accounts, and reduce the risks posed by virtual currencies and anonymous prepaid cards.

The amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Law aims to establish stricter regulatory rules for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, thereby combating terrorist financing and anonymous payments.

At the end of the report, Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, Robert Fico, president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, said that "ensuring the safety of citizens" was their main goal for 2017.

One of the ways to achieve this goal is to "improve the ability to combat terrorism, anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing", and digital currency happens to be within the scope of "being combated".