EU

Regulatory Roundup: EU-Wide Crypto Regulations, New Rules in Europe, US, Asia

14/01/2020 by Idelto Editor

In this roundup, we cover EU-wide crypto regulations and individual countries’ new digital asset rules including Austria and the U.K. We also cover numerous crypto regulatory developments in the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea, India, and the Philippines.

Also read: Regs Roundup: SEC Actions, Crypto Tax-Free in Korea, New Chinese Laws

EU-Wide Crypto Regulations Begin

The deadline for all European Union member states to transpose the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) into their national legislation was Jan. 10. All EU countries should have started regulating crypto exchanges and custodial wallet providers like banks and financial institutions.

A number of European countries have independently announced how they are regulating crypto service providers such as Austria and the U.K. Some countries have missed the deadline, however. The Netherlands, for example, said on Jan. 10 that its crypto legislation is not yet effective despite many months of preparation.

Prior to the Jan. 10 deadline, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said that the bank wants to take an active role in the digital currency field, reinforcing her plan to lead the ECB “ahead of the curve.” The ECB is also actively working on a digital currency, which Lagarde said should not discourage private sector solutions.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency is a focus of European regulators this year, as the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) outlined in its Strategic Orientation 2020-22.

US: Multiple SEC Actions and a Registration Statement

The U.S. has been active regarding crypto oversight this past week, with several government agencies taking crypto-related actions. As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deals with a number of crypto cases, its compliance office has named digital assets a priority this year.

Among the cases the SEC dealt with last week is one concerning Telegram. The agency has gotten a break in this case when the Southern District Court of New York ordered the company on Monday to hand over its bank records by Feb. 26. Secondly, the SEC is seeking more than $16 million in disgorgement plus civil penalties in a case targeting Icobox and Nikolay Evdokimov, a court document reveals on Jan. 10. Thirdly, the agency charged Donald G. Blakstad and two entities he controlled on Jan. 8 with engaging in the fraudulent offer and sale of over $3.5 million of securities. They claimed to have “developed a world-class data center for cryptocurrency mining.”

Meanwhile, First Bitcoin Capital Corp. filed a registration statement with the Commission on Jan. 7 seeking to list its shares on Nasdaq.

US States: Illinois Blockchain Act, Wyoming Bill, NY Crypto-Focused

Several U.S. states have also taken crypto regulatory actions this past week. The state of Illinois’ Blockchain Technology Act took effect on Jan. 1. It outlines the legal uses of blockchain technology, stating:

A smart contract, record, or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because a blockchain was used to create, store, or verify the smart contract, record, or signature.

In the state of Wyoming, House Bill 43 on “digital representation tokens” was assigned a bill number on Jan. 9. It defines the rights, duties, and obligations associated with digital representation tokens, as well as providing exceptions.

In the state of New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed amending the state’s financial service law to place crypto companies “on an even footing with other financial services companies.” He explained that under the current law, entities licensed under the Insurance Law or Banking Law are required to pay assessments to the state’s Department of Financial Services to cover the cost of examination and oversight. However, crypto companies are not required to pay such assessments, despite being subject to similar examination and oversight requirements.

China Prioritizes and Tests Digital Currency, Advances Commercial Blockchain

China has continued to make headlines in the crypto space, with its ongoing love for blockchain technology and push to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) ahead of Facebook’s Libra. Its central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), has named digital currency one of its priorities this year. In addition, the media reported last week that the bank’s digital yuan had completed its preliminary design and testing.

As for blockchain technology adoption, the provincial government of Anhui announced earlier this month a plan to use blockchain technology across governmental service centers. Moreover, the country’s nationwide blockchain service infrastructure platform reportedly will be put into commercial operation in April. The Blockchain Service Network is an industry alliance initiated by the State Information Center.

Meanwhile, China is still skeptical about cryptocurrency. A report by blockchain security firm Peckshield claims that cryptocurrency-based capital flight from China was around $11.4 billion in 2019.

Japan’s New Leverage Rule, South Korea for Mainstream Crypto, Initiative in Crypto Valley of Asia

Several other Asian countries have made crypto-related announcements this past week. In Japan, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has reportedly revealed its plans to limit the leverage in crypto margin trading to twice the deposits of traders. Local media reported that the new rule will be included in a Cabinet Office order linked to the revised Financial Instruments and Exchange Act which is expected to go into effect in April.

In South Korea, the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution has proposed a number of pro-crypto measures. The committee has urged the government to integrate cryptocurrency into the country’s financial system, allowing financial institutions to directly handle and offer a wide range of crypto products, including derivatives. It also proposes listing bitcoin on the country’s stock exchange.

In India, the state of Kerala is positioning itself as the blockchain hub of India, with plans to use the technology to improve a wide range of existing systems, including financial.

In the Philippines, a plan to build an airport is underway in the “Crypto Valley of Asia,” an initiative of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), the government agency responsible for managing the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport. Last week, CEZA’s administrator discussed pro-crypto regulations with a Japanese minister of state. They also call for cooperation among Asian countries.

What do you think of the regulatory developments covered in this roundup? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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With New Regulations, Europe’s Crypto Companies May Be Running Out of Options

13/01/2020 by Idelto Editor

European crypto companies are finding themselves in a changing regulatory environment. The new realities they have to deal with stem from the fifth edition of the European Union’s anti-money laundering directive. AMLD5 introduces stricter customer due diligence requirements and some in the industry have realized their business models, based on key principles of the crypto space, are hardly sustainable under the new rules.

Also read: EU Countries Commence Crypto Regulations as Mandated by New Directive

Netherlands to Introduce Licensing When New Directive Requires Only Registration

Although the amendments had to be transposed into national law by Jan. 10, 2020, member-states are at different stages of their implementation. The approach to complying with the Pan-European directive also varies between countries with some governments opting to expand their regulatory frameworks beyond what Brussels requires at this point. Several EU nations have indicated this is the direction they want to move in and the Netherlands is one of them.

The new Dutch legislation transposing AMLD5 is yet to enter into force. The bill prepared by the government is more restrictive than the directive requires, Luuk Strijers, CCO at Deribit, told news.Bitcoin.com. The Amsterdam-based crypto derivatives exchange announced recently its decision to relocate to Panama because the “new regulations would put too high barriers for the majority of traders, both – regulatory and cost-wise,” the company detailed on its website.

The Senate of the Netherlands is scheduled to discuss the new law on Jan. 28, 2020. Strijers pointed out that the draft framework has the characteristics of a licensing regime, while AMLD5 dictates the obligation to register instead of obtaining a license. “If Deribit falls under these new regulations, this would mean that we have to demand an extensive amount of information from our current and future customers,” the executive said and emphasized:

We believe that crypto markets should be freely available to most, and the new regulations would put too high barriers for the majority of traders, both – regulatory and cost-wise. The implementation of these changes would greatly affect the exchange and its customers.

Therefore, Deribit have decided to operate their platform out of Panama. From Feb. 10, 2020, it will be assigned to a new entity, DRB Panama Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dutch company, Deribit B.V. “The team and leadership will remain the same, with John Jansen as the CEO,” noted Luuk Strijers. All open client positions, holdings, equity, trade history, fees, rate limits, wallets, portfolio margin arrangements, and other system settings will be transferred from Deribit B.V. to DRB Panama. The platform’s servers, which will also remain the same, will be moved to London. The Deribit CCO explained:

We considered multiple other (EU) jurisdictions in an elaborate regulatory review performed over the past period and came to the conclusion that Panama is the best option for our clients.

Crypto Companies Can Run but Can They Hide?

Despite the relocation, however, certain changes regarding Deribit’s due diligence procedures will be implemented. “As of Feb. 10, 2020 our new KYC requirements will be applicable to all our clients, so our European clients will have to meet the same requirements as clients from (most of the) other counties in the world,” remarked the company executive. Like up until now, residents and citizens of the United States will not be allowed to trade on the exchange. Clients will have to accept DRB Panama as their new contracting partner under a new set of terms and conditions in order to continue to use the services provided by Deribit.

Although various changes in the global regulatory landscape do not apply to Panama, Deribit will introduce two KYC levels. All current users will initially be registered as Level 0 clients, which comes with some restrictions. Withdrawals will be limited to up to 1 BTC per 24 hours. Providing a passport or other government issued ID will raise user status to Level 1, remove the withdrawal limit and unlock portfolio margining, for example. Deribit will use a solution by Jumio aimed at providing client identity verification and services by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis to monitor transactions for anti-money laundering purposes, Strijers revealed.

The announcement, the company representative assured, “has received positive response from our clients as it clearly outlines the strategy going forward and addresses concerns they might have had.” Deribit’s decision to change the jurisdiction from which it operates shows that relocation can be a solution, but only a partial one for crypto companies that want to keep their privacy-sensitive clients happy. In a world where most governments abide by global standards adopted by international organizations such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and customers’ residence matters, moving a platform to a different jurisdiction is not likely to bring much change for its users.

In December, U.K. crypto payments provider Bottle Pay announced it’s ceasing operations because of the latest update in the EU’s anti-money laundering regulations, despite raising $2 million in seed funding a few months earlier and expanding its user base significantly. “We have taken the painful decision to shut Bottle Pay down completely rather than become subject to these new regulations,” the company stated in a blog post, explaining that “the amount and type of extra personal information we would be required to collect from our users would alter the current user experience so radically, and so negatively, that we are not willing to force this onto our community.”

Panama is one of the alternative destinations suggested to Bottle Pay by members of their Telegram channel. “How come BottlePay can’t just move operations to a new jurisdiction outside of the UK like say Panama?”, asks one of them. “That’s what I also was curious about. But I guess that even they will gonna move to the different jurisdiction people who would want to use bottle in the Europe through the twitter or whatever will not be allowed to do that,” comments another. “So, Malta certifications will not help”…

“Wow sounds more like prison than citizenship,” the conversation goes on. “Bitsahara sent compliance notices yesterday. I can’t help but think that this is EXACTLY everything crypto was created to fight,” remarks someone else. “Why you don’t want to hire attorney to help avoid this stuff?” queries another member, to which Bottle Pay founder Peter Cheyne replies: “we were working on it for months behind the scenes. so we already pursued those kind of avenues, and the feedback led us to the decision we made last week … the trade offs would have been substantial.”

Several other crypto companies operating in Europe have shut down so far due to the new EU regulations, including crypto mining pool Simplecoin and bitcoin gaming platform Chopcoin. News.Bitcoin.com’s questions about Bottle Pay’s plans for the future are as of yet unanswered by the group at the time of publication. On a positive note, however, the Get Started page on its website currently states: “Effortless Bitcoin payments will be back soon.”

What future do you see for crypto companies in Europe and around the world? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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US and European Regulators Say Crypto a Priority This Year

12/01/2020 by Idelto Editor

Several regulators in the U.S. and Europe have made cryptocurrency among their top priorities this year. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s compliance office and the European Securities and Markets Authority, in collaboration with other regulators, have outlined their plans to focus on crypto oversight. Further, China’s central bank has made digital currency a priority.

Also read: Regs Roundup: SEC Actions, Crypto Tax-Free in Korea, New Chinese Laws

SEC Compliance Office Focused on Crypto

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced its 2020 priorities on Tuesday. The office conducts the SEC’s national exam program, with a mission to protect investors, ensure market integrity, and support responsible capital formation. The exam results are used by the Commission to inform rule-making initiatives, identify and monitor risks, improve industry practices and pursue misconduct.

The OCIE stated that advancements in financial technologies, including digital assets, “warrant ongoing attention and review.” Noting that “The digital assets market has grown rapidly and presents various risks, including for retail investors who may not adequately understand the differences between these assets and more traditional products,” the document confirms:

OCIE also will continue to identify and examine SEC-registered firms engaged in the digital asset space.

The examinations will assess six key areas: investment suitability, portfolio management and trading practices, safety of client funds and assets, pricing and valuation, effectiveness of compliance programs and controls, and supervision of employees outside of business activities.

The OCIE oversight also covers robo-advisors, which are registered investment advisors that provide services to clients through automated investment tools and platforms. The compliance office will also focus examinations on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), its operations, regulatory programs, and the quality of FINRA’s examinations of broker-dealers and municipal advisors. FINRA has approved several crypto investments. In October, it approved shares of Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund for public quotation.

Europe Focused on Creating ‘Sound Legal Framework’ for Crypto

Over in Europe, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) released its Strategic Orientation 2020-22 on Thursday, highlighting its priorities for the year. Located in Paris, ESMA is a European Union financial regulatory agency and European Supervisory Authority.

According to the document, ESMA requires the “EU market participants to acknowledge the risks that may stem from digitalization by ensuring business continuity and the use of adequate and up-to-date technology, as well as adequate protection against cyberthreats, and through proper data protection and data quality management.” The regulator described:

The dangers of cyberthreats to the financial system as a whole and a sound legal framework for crypto assets are increasingly becoming areas of focus for ESMA together with the other European Supervisory Authorities, the European Systemic Risk Board, the European Central Bank and the European Commission.

Emphasizing that fintech can contribute to well-functioning financial markets and investor protection, ESMA says it “will therefore actively examine the new opportunities technology might bring especially for investor protection and share expertise and know-how with national authorities.” The regulator will collaborate with national regulators to achieve its goals.

China Prioritizes Digital Currency

In Asia, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced its seven key policy priorities for 2020 on Jan. 5, following an annual conference it held last week in Beijing.

China’s central bank will “strengthen research and development and application of financial technology,” the announcement details. The PBOC specifically stated that it will “continue to steadily advance research and development of a legal digital currency.”

While cracking down on crypto and initial coin offering activities in the country, the PBOC has been working on issuing its own digital yuan. Local media reported on Friday that the bank has completed the digital currency’s top-level design and preliminary testing.

What do you think of the U.S. and European regulators making cryptocurrency a priority this year? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, SEC, ESMA, and PBOC.

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EU Countries Commence Crypto Regulations as Mandated by New Directive

11/01/2020 by Idelto Editor

EU Countries Start Regulating Cryptocurrency as Mandated by New Directive

The European Union’s 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive mandates that member states start regulating crypto assets by Jan. 10. Crypto exchanges and custodial wallet providers are now covered by the same regulatory requirements as banks and other financial institutions.

Also read: Regs Roundup: SEC Actions, Crypto Tax-Free in Korea, New Chinese Laws

EU’s Regulatory Deadline: Jan. 10

The 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5), which amends the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, extends the EU’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financial rules to virtual currencies. The amendment was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 19, 2018, and mandates member states to transpose this directive by Jan. 10, 2020. The EU currently has 28 member countries.

The European Commission explained that “In the EU, credit institutions and other financial institutions are subject to obligations to apply CDD [customer due diligence] measures in accordance with Directive (EU) 2015/849 (AMLD4),” elaborating:

Directive (EU) 2018/843 (AMLD5), once transposed into member state legislation, will extend the list of obliged entities to virtual currency exchanges and custodian wallet providers.

As “obliged entities,” crypto service providers are now covered by the same regulatory requirements as banks and other financial institutions, including registering with financial authorities. “The rules will now apply to entities which provide services that are in charge of holding, storing and transferring virtual currencies,” the European Commission clarified. “These new actors will have to identify their customers and report any suspicious activity to the Financial Intelligence Units.”

The amendment also proposes that member states create central databases comprised of crypto users’ identities and wallet addresses and authorize national FIUs to access the information stored in them. “To combat the risks related to the anonymity, national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) should be able to obtain information allowing them to associate virtual currency addresses to the identity of the owner of virtual currency,” the directive states.

EU Member States Complying

A number of EU member states have been preparing for this deadline for some time, transposing the AMLD5 into national laws. Some countries wait until the last minute to make announcements. As Brexit talks continue, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced Friday that it has become the AML and CFT supervisor of the country’s crypto-asset activities, stating:

From 10 January 2020, we are the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) supervisor of UK cryptoasset businesses.

The FCA detailed that crypto exchanges, ATMs, peer-to-peer platforms, custodian wallet providers and token issuers, including initial coin offerings (ICOs) and initial exchange offerings (IEOs), must comply with its rules starting from Jan. 10.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) announced Thursday that it is now the regulator of virtual currencies in Austria. Effective Jan. 10, companies that issue, sell, transfer, trade, and exchange cryptocurrencies must register with the FMA. They include in-kind crypto service and custodian wallet providers. Registrants will comply with the due diligence and reporting obligations for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. Noting that it began accepting registration applications from Oct. 1, 2019, the regulator elaborated:

Unregistered providers may no longer offer their service in Austria from this date onwards … A fine of up to €200,000 is prescribed in the event that a provider fails to make the registration.

France is ahead of many other countries, as it adopted a regulatory framework for crypto assets in April last year. The French financial markets regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), published its new rules for digital asset service providers on Dec. 20. The AMF also recently approved the country’s first initial coin offering.

Finland started regulating the country’s crypto industry in May, and the Financial Supervisory Authority (Fin-FSA) approved the country’s first five crypto service providers, including Localbitcoins, in November.

In the Netherlands, the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, has been preparing to regulate crypto businesses, requesting their information in September last year. “Firms offering services for the exchange between cryptos and regular money, and crypto wallet providers must register with De Nederlandsche Bank,” the bank noted. However, the regulator said on Jan. 10 that the legislation has not entered into force.

Germany is another country that has been active in transposing the AMLD5 into its laws, which allow financial institutions to sell and store cryptocurrencies for customers alongside traditional investments such as stocks and bonds. Authorization from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) is required.

Strict Regulations Crowding Out Crypto Companies

As EU member states start transposing the new EU directive into their national laws, a number of crypto service providers have been feeling the effect of increased oversight. Some have chosen to relocate their businesses. Some EU member countries are adopting even tougher crypto rules than the new AML directive requires, such as Lithuania.

Crypto derivatives trading platform Deribit, for example, announced on Thursday that from Feb. 10 its platform will no longer be operated by Dutch company Deribit B.V. due to increased oversight. Instead, it will be operated by DRB Panama Inc., a 100% subsidiary of the Dutch entity. The company explained that complying with the new regulations would be costly and it will also have to “demand an extensive amount of information from our current and future customers.” Noting that “crypto markets should be freely available to most,” the company concluded:

The implementation of these changes would greatly affect the exchange and its customers. Therefore, we have decided to operate the platform from Panama.

Several other crypto service providers have already shut down in anticipation of the AMLD5 implementation in their countries. U.K.-based custodial bitcoin wallet provider Bottle Pay shut down on Dec. 31. The company explained that it would have to comply with the AMLD5 to remain in operation, emphasizing that “The amount and type of extra personal information we would be required to collect from our users would alter the current user experience so radically, and so negatively, that we are not willing to force this onto our community.” Crypto mining pool Simplecoin and bitcoin gaming platform Chopcoin also shut down ahead of the AMLD5 coming into effect.

What do you think of the EU directive requiring all member states to regulate crypto assets? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, the FCA, and the AMF.

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Germans Rush to Buy Gold as Draft Bill Threatens to Restrict Purchases

27/12/2019 by Idelto Editor

Germans Rush to Buy Gold as Draft Bill Restricts Purchases

Reports have emerged depicting long lines in front of a physical gold sales location in Germany, in view of pending legislation which would once again lower the anonymous purchase limit, this time from €10,000 to €2,000. The last drop happened in 2017 when the limit was set at €15,000. A draft bill from the German finance ministry is being pointed to as the reason for the change, which is scheduled to take effect from Jan. 10, 2020.

Also Read: Someone Redeemed a 100 BTC Casascius Bar Worth Over $700K

Germans Rush to Buy Gold

In a tweet posted Wednesday, precious metals consultant and analyst Dan Popescu shared a picture of a long line of people waiting in front of “Degussa store to buy gold in Köln.” Popescu described, “From Jan. 1, 2020, the limit to buy gold anonymously drops from €10,000 down to €2,000. Only two years ago the limit was €15,000.” One user posted his own photo and replied “This is me line at Degussa in 23rd. The employees said they haven’t seen anything like it before.” To give an idea of the relatively small amount of gold €2,000 (~$2,224) can buy, even a 50g gold bar is currently too expensive.

Germans are queuing at Degussa store to buy #gold in Köln. From Jan. 1, 2020, the limit to buy gold anonymously drops from €10,000 down to €2,000. Only two years ago the limit was €15,000. pic.twitter.com/vhuZTBPA0Y

— 🇪🇺 🇲🇨🇨🇭Dan Popescu 🇫🇷🇮🇹🇷🇴 (@PopescuCo) December 24, 2019

After the new legislation takes effect, reports from German media state that purchases of the precious metal over €2,000 will now require customer identification for buyers, including criminal background checks for businesses. The news outlet details:

If a dealer suspects, he must report his potential customer to the authorities. If a trader fails to adequately comply with these obligations, he may face severe fines.

If given final approval, the German draft bill designed to implement EU guidelines as laid out in the anti-money laundering directive AMLD5, will take effect on Jan. 10. This is the stated deadline for member states to implement legislation accommodative of the directive.

Residents of the country appear to be very concerned about the impending limitation, as the European Central Bank (ECB) continues to draw fire for its controversial economic polices such as negative interest rates. Also for newly installed ECB President Christine Lagarde’s recent criticism of perceived German conservatism. Skeptical reactions were voiced on Reddit as well, with one user stating:

They don’t want normal people to bank run their scam paper. Gold and hard assets is how you protect yourself from inflation. They want to know every single person that tries to get out of their cage.

Germans Rush to Buy Gold as Draft Bill Threatens to Restrict Purchases — Gold prices in Germany at press time. Source: http://www.livepriceofgold.com/germany-gold-price-per-gram.html

The Far Reaching Arm of AMLD5

As news.Bitcoin.com previously reported, the 5th EU anti-money laundering directive has big implications for holders of crypto and crypto businesses. Its impending policies have already squeezed some out of the industry, at least temporarily, but crypto is far from the only area that will be affected.

Per the legislation, non-transparent assets, accounts, and even private safety deposit boxes will now be subject to state information gathering by law. Gold is a bastion for private value storage, so the stricter limits come as no surprise. AMLD5 focuses on combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) and preventing money laundering (AML), but given the state of economic affairs in the EU, skeptics maintain the new laws are part of a larger bid to establish financial control and force users to remain stuck in a faltering system.

The fact that the ECB is now also in development of its own digital currency system amplifies these concerns, as one of the last remaining escapes from bank-imposed negative interest rates is to hold paper cash privately. With central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), negative rates can be applied directly to the asset, effectively closing this escape route.

Gold is thus seen as one of the final hedges against irresponsible government policy, and the proposed new limits on the precious metal will leave residents of Germany with even fewer options. The encroaching ECB and German policies have many on social media suggesting permissionless cryptocurrencies, which can be traded privately, as a means to hedge against the growing surveillance state.

What are your thoughts on the draft bill’s limitations for anonymous gold purchases in Germany? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, fair use.

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