INTERNATIONAL - Britain wants to increase regulation of Bitcoin and other digital currencies by expanding the reach of EU anti-money-laundering rules that force traders to disclose their identities and report suspicious activity.
With demand for Bitcoin surging, fuelling a 1000percent rally in its value so far this year, the British finance ministry said it expected that negotiations over changes to the EU rules would conclude later this year or in early 2018. Stephen Barclay, the economic secretary to Britain’s Treasury, told parliament in a notice on Sunday that the amendments “bring virtual-currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers into anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulation”.
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That would mean those companies would be overseen by national competent authorities, the statement said.