AML

The German Federal Ministry of Finance changed the national Travel of Crypto Assets Regulation on May 27, 2023. However, crypto service providers can still benefit from an exemption until the new EU Travel of Funds regulation comes into force.

The European and global Anti Money Laundering regulation works via preventive measures of central market actors. But crypto transactions can also be executed without the services of such service providers. Is the traditional regulatory approach still up to date?

In 2018, the first first piece of codified regulation regarding blockchain and DLT units was introduced in the European Union with the creation of the so-called fifth Anti-Money-Laundering Directive. Since then, virtual currencies are defined by the European AML regulation as a digital representation of value that is not issued or guaranteed by a central […]

The Lightning Network promises to solve one of Bitcoin´s biggest problems: The Scalability. Due to its decentralized operation mode, the Bitcoin network itself can process and settle between seven and twelve transactions per second. In part this is due to the relatively small block size of just one Megabyte per block in comparison to other […]

Last week BaFin published its long-awaited article concerning the AML obligations of financial service providers that intend to offer crypto custody services. The subject of crypto custody services therefore stays highly topical even during the corona crisis and BaFin continues its efforts to best inform the market participants with regards to the supervisory obligations of […]

As of 2020 the German legislator is going to introduce crypto assets into the German Banking Act (KWG) as a new form of financial instruments and crypto custody services as a new form of financial service which is subject to authorization. Basis for these legal innovations is the amending directive to the fourth European Anti-Money […]