Today the EU parliament voted in favor of three major pieces of anti money laundering (AML) legislation. Crypto payments for goods and services in excess of €1,000 must be subject to AML. And the legislation expands the definition of crypto asset service providers (CASPs) to pull in NFT platforms.
A previous report from The Block stated that the new legislation covers decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and DeFi platforms. However, a spokesperson for MEP Damien Careme told Ledger Insights that he believed today’s legislation still relies on the crypto asset service provider definition specified in the Markets in Crypto-Asset Regulations (MiCAR). It just expands it to NFTs which are explicitly excluded by the first version of MiCAR.
The definition of a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) under MiCAR is a little loose, but Ledger Insights discussions with lawyers indicated it would depend on whether a DeFi protocol can be shown to be centrally controlled. If it is truly decentralized, it will not be considered a CASP. That should mean it is out of scope for AML subject to the unpublished wording of today’s legal text.
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