FATF & 15 Governments Target Personal Data of Crypto Users – Report

In the continual fight against money laundering, governments reportedly want to put a global cryptocurrency system in place by collecting personal data of crypto users.

Governments of about 15 countries seek to establish a new system of cooperation that would enable them to collect and share with each other personal information on people who transact in cryptocurrencies, Nikkei Asian Review reported today, citing no one.

The system is to be designed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international organization that consists of 37 member jurisdictions and 2 regional organizations. The plan is for the detailed measures to be drawn up by 2020, and a few years later, the system should be in operation, which would then be managed by the private sector, according to the report.

The goal of this effort is to prevent the laundering of money, which is then used for a host of illegal purposes, including funding terrorist organizations.

However, recent data showed that the proportion of bitcoin transactions tied to illicit deals is declining: illegal activity has accounted for less than 1% of all bitcoin activity so far this year — down from 7% in 2012.

In either case, among the countries that will develop the new system, Australia, Singapore, and the members of the G7 are named. Given that many countries do not have a regulatory framework for crypto, and that a number of them are working on establishing clear rules for cryptocurrencies, it is generally very difficult to establish a global set of rules or a system by which most, if not all, countries will be guided, but this effort might bring all of them closer and faster to their legal goals.

As reported, in June, the FATF agreed to implement their previous recommendations that would force governments to tighten oversight of the crypto business.

Meanwhile, just recently the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom, issued the Final Guidance on Cryptoassets, while the G7 attendees at a summit of ministers and central bankers expressed concern about Facebook’s Libra and crypto-related matters and promised action. That is not all, as July was filled with regulatory announcements and the cryptoverse can expect a lot more to come.