#EUPrivacyCoinBan The European Union will ban anonymous cryptocurrencies and privacy tokens in 2027

Europe will prohibit anonymous cryptocurrency accounts and privacy coins starting in 2027.

The European Union is about to impose extensive anti-money laundering (AML) regulations that will ban privacy-preserving tokens and anonymous cryptocurrency accounts starting in 2027.

Under the new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR), credit institutions, financial institutions, and crypto asset service providers (CASP) will be prohibited from maintaining anonymous accounts or handling privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies.

"Article 79 of the AMLR imposes strict prohibitions on anonymous accounts [...]. Credit institutions, financial institutions, and crypto asset service providers are prohibited from maintaining anonymous accounts," according to the AML Manual published by the European Crypto Initiative (EUCI).

The regulation is part of a broader AML framework that includes bank and payment accounts, savings books, and safety deposit boxes, "crypto asset accounts that allow the anonymization of transactions" and "accounts that use anonymity-enhancing coins".

"The regulations (AMLR, AMLD, and AMLAR) are definitive, and what remains is the 'fine print', that is, the interpretation of some of the requirements through so-called implementing and delegated acts," said Vyara Savova, Senior Policy Officer at EUCI.

She added that much of the enforcement will be carried out through the so-called implementing and delegated acts, which are mainly handled by the European Banking Authority:

"This means that the EUCI continues to actively work on these level two acts by providing input to public consultations, as some of the implementation details have not yet been finalized."

"However, the broader framework is definitive, so the internals," said Savova.