Switzerland is looking to cripple crypto adoption by restricting the amount of digital currency crypto enthusiasts may own. This is according to a press release by The Swiss Financial Market Authority (FINMA).
FINMA has passed a new set of regulations expected to overhaul already existing crypto ordinances. January 1, 2020, marked the launch of this new set of regulations. Alongside other regulations from FinSO (Financial Services Ordinance), FinIO(Financial Institutions Ordinance) and SOO (Supervisory Organisations Ordinance. The regulations by these bodies mandated FINMA to design news laws as touching several pressing technical crypto-related issues. In response, FINMA designed the Financial Institutions Ordinance (FinIO-FINMA). And also proposed several amendments to already existing regulations. FINMA will also play host to consultation on the follow-up legislation until April 9, 2020.
The new regulations revealed that it will abolish three outdated regulatory circulars. One of which is to lower the limit for the anonymous purchase of digital currency. With the threshold now at $1,000 Swiss Francs (CHF) from its initial $5,000 CHF. Regulatory bodies are blaming the increased occurrence of crypto thefts and money laundering as the reason for these new regulations. Also, anyone looking to own crypto beyond these limits must be properly identified.
Is this the end of anonymity?
New money laundering policies are tightening the noose around cryptocurrency usage worldwide. These policies also negate one of the core pillars of cryptocurrency which is anonymity. Switzerland isn’t the only country looking to stifle owning and using cryptocurrencies. Several countries have also failed to identify this blooming tech as a solution to global financial restrictions. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for example has demanded users whose transactions are beyond $1,000 to be properly identified. Last month the EU also proposed a similar regulation, forcing all owners of cryptocurrency to comply with traditional banking grade KYC and AML requirements. These regulations alone have also forced many crypto exchanges out of the EU. While some like BootlePay have had to shut down.
Does this new trend of regulations spell the end of one of the founding principles of cryptocurrency – Anonymity?
Send in your thoughts on this new regulatory trend. I would love to hear from you.
