EU to ban anonymous crypto accounts and privacy coins by 2027

Scope of the EU Rules

• Regulation targets exchanges and financial intermediaries, not private on-chain use.
• Credit/financial institutions and CASPs may not maintain anonymous accounts or handle “privacy-preserving” coins like Monero on their platforms.
• Several commenters stress that coins themselves are not banned; private, peer‑to‑peer use and self‑custody wallets remain legal.
• Effect is seen as gradually cutting ties between the “crypto‑economy” and the fiat economy: easy conversion to/from euros disappears, leaving coins mostly useful only inside crypto.

AML/KYC: Purpose vs. Costs

• Supporters view this as a straightforward extension of KYC/AML already common in finance: a necessary tool against corruption, organized crime, and tax fraud.
• They argue “friction” is important: if it’s too easy to hide money, more otherwise‑law‑abiding people will cheat.
• Critics see it as expanding financial surveillance and weakening civil liberties, with AML/KYC cited as a driver of pervasive monitoring.
• Some point to abuses like cash seizures and asset forfeiture (mostly US examples); others note such abuses are less evident in Europe or at least not well documented in the thread.

Privacy, Cash, and Civil Liberties

• One side says: if you want fully private payments, use cash; regulated digital rails should be traceable.
• Others respond that cash is itself being constrained (denomination limits, reporting thresholds, withdrawal caps) and is unusable for global online payments.
• Several comments link financial privacy to democracy: examples include protestors’ transactions being tracked, bank accounts frozen during protests, and organizations like Wikileaks relying on crypto.
• There is concern that the EU drift is toward “no private transactions” in a couple of decades.

Technical Workarounds and Crypto Debates

• Multiple DEX models (multisig escrow, atomic swaps, liquidity pools) are cited as ways people will still move between Monero and Bitcoin without centralized exchanges.
• Some believe this will blunt the regulation’s impact; others note limited smart‑contract capability on Monero/Zcash may constrain DeFi use.
• Monero is praised as a “real” currency (fast, cheap, private) vs. Bitcoin as a traceable store‑of‑value; critics counter that privacy coins primarily enable a “shadow system” for tax and sanctions evasion.
• Broader debate continues over whether crypto is a failed grift or an essential tool against tyranny, with no consensus in the thread.