EU subjects Crypto transactions to bank rules

At a time when prices have plummeted, wiping out riches, generating suspicion, and igniting calls for stricter inspection, Europe is getting ready to lead the globe in regulating the rogue cryptocurrency business.

By adopting new rules that subject cryptocurrency transfers to the same money-laundering regulations as conventional banking transfers, the European Union made a first step late on Wednesday.

As E.U. officials worked late Thursday to iron out the last elements of a separate agreement for a comprehensive package of crypto laws for the bloc’s 27 countries, known as Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, a much greater step was anticipated.

The crypto rules are anticipated to have considerable influence around the globe, much as the E.U.’s pioneering data privacy policy, which de facto became the global norm.

The goal of the European regulations is to safeguard financial stability, which is of growing concern to regulators in light of a recent spate of crashes tied to cryptocurrencies. Last month, the stablecoin TerraUSD collapsed, wiping out an estimated $40 billion in investor cash with little to no oversight.