Home Ireland to draft “urgent” crypto legislation to ensure compliance with EU laws

Ireland to draft “urgent” crypto legislation to ensure compliance with EU laws

TLDR

  • Ireland plans to draft cryptocurrency legislation to align with the EU’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws by the December 30 deadline.
  • The new rules will introduce stricter oversight of crypto exchanges, limits on cash payments, and increased scrutiny of large transactions.
  • This legislation will complement the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), enhancing Ireland's efforts to prevent financial system abuse.

Ireland is set to draft cryptocurrency legislation as a matter of priority to ensure the country is compliant with European Union laws on anti-money laundering and terror financing.

With an upcoming deadline of December 30 looming, Ireland’s Finance Minister Jack Chambers has warned of the importance of ensuring crypto guidelines are updated before the EU laws take effect. 

As reported by the Irish Examiner, no specific details were given on what the legislation would entail or when it would be applied in Ireland, but swift action is likely. 

Earlier this year, the Irish police force seized around €6.5 million (just over $7m) of crypto following a lengthy probe into ‘darknet markets’ and money laundering. In a similar incident last month, the German government shut down 47 crypto exchanges, accusing them of being used for criminal purposes.

Adoption of the EU’s “Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act” will give Irish authorities greater powers to suspend transactions, increasing the reach of financial intelligence units.

The legislation will mean more stringent controls on crypto exchanges and a €10,000 limit on cash payments. Large transactions will require greater scrutiny as well as new reporting requirements for high-value transfers. 

The new framework to be introduced at the end of the year will complement existing laws, including Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). 

Preventing abuse of the financial system

Last month, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Derville Rowland, stressed the country would use MiCA as its template to keep pace with safety innovation. In the evolving space of new technologies, Rowland noted the necessity of crypto legislation to ensure European nations remain at the forefront of its development. 

Ireland’s Central Bank had approved 15 virtual asset service providers, as of July. These vendors include Gemini, Ripple, Paysafe, MoonPay, and Coinbase, which have all agreed to sideline and de-list non-compliant stablecoins from their European markets.

A spokesperson for the Central Bank underlined the imperative for Ireland to be “an active participant in preventing its financial system from being used for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes.”Image credit: Via Ideogram

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The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech, gambling and blockchain industries for major developments, new product and brand launches, AI breakthroughs, game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to in-house staff writers with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Graeme Hanna
Tech Journalist

Graeme Hanna is a full-time, freelance writer with significant experience in online news as well as content writing. Since January 2021, he has contributed as a football and news writer for several mainstream UK titles including The Glasgow Times, Rangers Review, Manchester Evening News, MyLondon, Give Me Sport, and the Belfast News Letter. Graeme has worked across several briefs including news and feature writing in addition to other significant work experience in professional services. Now a contributing news writer at ReadWrite.com, he is involved with pitching relevant content for publication as well as writing engaging tech news stories.

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