Crypto exchange Huobi has announced that it will delist seven privacy coins, citing new financial regulations. Some analysts believe the primary motivation for this move is a planned entry to the US market.
A new handbook published by crypto advocacy group European Crypto Initiative (EUCI) warns that EU regulators will ban anonymous crypto accounts and privacy coins by 2027, according to the terms of the recently adopted Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR).
Privacy coins such as Monero will soon be unavailable in South Korea, with the government citing crypto AML measures as the reason for the ban.
Bans on privacy coins by Japan and now possibly France and Texas might make it harder for criminals to conduct certain types of illegal activities but crypto advocates say these bans could actually harm efforts to make privacy a universal human right.
New EU anti-money laundering regulations currently under discussion would include a ban on privacy coins such as Dash, Monero and Zcash that add further layers of anonymity to the standard blockchain transaction.
Europol's cybercrime report names privacy coins and wallets, and decentralized markets as the top cyber threats. These privacy-enhanced digital services made it more challenging for law enforcement agencies.
