European Union countries plan a crackdown on virtual currencies and anonymous payments made online and via pre-paid cards in a bid to tackle terrorism financing after the Paris attacks, a draft document seen by Reuters said.
EU interior and justice ministers will gather in Brussels on Friday for a crisis meeting called after the Paris carnage of last weekend.
They will urge the European Commission, the EU executive arm, to propose measures to “strengthen controls of non-banking payment methods such as electronic/anonymous payments and virtual currencies and transfers of gold, precious metals, by pre-paid cards,” draft conclusions of the meeting said.
Bitcoin might face stricter regulation in the seven most powerful countries of the West. The reason is the suspicion that bitcoin is widely used by ISIL, says an article in Der Spiegel.
The regulation of financial technology, including cryptocurrencies, has been a subject of a private discussion of the G7 finance ministers during the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.
The reason for supposed crackdown on cryptocurrencies is their supposed role in funding of the Islamic State, the organization behind the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. On 17 November the European Commission issued a memo, stating that bitcoin would be subject to special scrutiny.