#欧盟隐私币禁令 I. Legislative Background and Motivations
Crackdown on Illegal Financial Activities
The core objective of the EU's Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) is to sever the ties between privacy coins and criminal activities such as money laundering and terrorism financing. Statistics show that privacy coins were involved in money laundering cases in the UK amounting to as much as €43 billion, and their anonymity has become a breeding ground for dark web transactions and fund concealment.
Penetrative Regulatory Logic
Regulatory agencies believe that traditional financial regulatory methods have blind spots in the cryptocurrency sector, necessitating the use of technical means such as real-name verification (KYC) and transaction tracking to achieve a "surgical cut" in regulation. For example, requiring risk assessments for anonymous transfers exceeding €1,000.
II. Core Content of the Ban (Effective July 2027)
Comprehensive Ban on Privacy Coins
Clearly prohibits crypto asset service providers (CASPs) from supporting transactions of cryptocurrencies with strong anonymity characteristics, such as Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC).
Restrictions on Anonymous Tools
Lists mixers as "high-risk tools" and requires exchanges to conduct customer due diligence on transactions involving self-custodied wallets. Although self-custodied wallets are not directly banned, their anonymity features will be strictly constrained.
Tiered Regulatory Mechanism
Establishes a new regulatory agency, AMLA, specifically to monitor large crypto platforms and introduces a "regulatory tax" (an additional 0.01% fee on each transfer) to cover compliance costs.
III. Market Impact and Industry Shock
Shrinkage of the Privacy Coin Market
The prices of privacy coins such as Monero may plummet due to liquidity exhaustion, with predictions suggesting a reduction in market capitalization of over 60%. Exchanges will need to divest from privacy coin operations, leading to a stagnation of related innovative projects.
Surge in Compliance Costs
Exchanges will need to deploy on-chain tracking systems and establish local entities to comply with regulations, with operational costs expected to rise by 20%-30%. For example, offshore exchanges like Binance will see their operational space compressed.
Restructuring of the Industry Landscape
Traditional financial institutions (like Goldman Sachs) may enter the market through compliant stablecoins, potentially dominating market share; meanwhile, compliant-friendly assets like BTC and ETH may become new safe-haven choices.
IV. The Game Between Technological Autonomy and Regulation
Countermeasures from the Monero Community
Establishes a community voting decision-making mechanism through a "decentralized governance" proposal and develops anti-censorship technologies (such as an upgraded version of ring signatures). However, this plan faces challenges in technical implementation.
