We have said it before and we’lll say it again, the top two threats to state power are anonymity in value exchange and self-sufficiency among its citizens. Anonymous cryptocurrencies offer opportunites for both such threats to state power, but the second part of that potential to undermine state power is based on the first part, anonymous value exchange.
The EU is fully aware of this and, using scapegoating to justify tyranny once again, is using the narrative that the state must know every value transaction in its lands else mobsters and terrorists can exchange wealth without being found out by the state. Certainly this is true, ‘criminals’ will benefit from anonymous exchange of value but, perhaps, the self-sufficiency among the vast majority of non-criminals will lead to a neutralization of the potential ways in which these same criminals can attack the non-criminals.
The creation of absolute state monitoring of value exchange, however, only creates more opportunities for the same ‘criminals’ to hurt non-criminals by making people dependent on centralized systems that are far easier to disrupt than non-centralized systems are.
The EU is now prepared to make sure that all cryptocurrency exchanges are traceable, starting with the still biggest one, Bitcoin.
Excerpt:
Cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Kraken could be forced to collect the details of people sending and receiving crypto under new rules proposed by the European Commission.
The EU’s executive branch announced the potential change on Tuesday as part of a package of reforms aimed at tackling financial crime within the bloc.
“The aim of this package is to improve the detection of suspicious transactions and activities, and to close loopholes used by criminals to launder illicit proceeds or finance terrorist activities through the financial system,” the Commission said in a statement.
