In reference to the recent move by the European Union to introduce customer verification on crypto currency exchanges, it is imperative to point out that money laundering and tax evasion did exist before the advent of crypto and will continue to exist as long as there are loopholes and a cabal that profits from these vices. Terrorism too did exist before the advent of crypto and will continue to do so as long as the military industrial complex is in place. The Panama papers were also not a product or a consequence of the advent or use of crypto. All these vices have existed before and of course will try to find their way into the crypto space to continue existing as long as they are not checked at the core.
Opening up privacy will certainly not stop the above practices. New ways and efforts need to be devised to take a deeper look in to this and stop the scapegoating with these obvious issues. If meaningful regulation and legislation of the crypto space is to be achieved, there is need to decentralize this very process and involve the major stakeholders.
However, this is not going to be the case for now because the critical issue here is that banking as a system has been controlled by and a reserve of Europe and it thus feels threatened that an alternative system of controlling finances has come in to place. Of course this was bound to happen given that Europe has for almost the past decade acted as the bank of the world and handled most of the financial transactions of the world through the Swift system. Taking this away from them and engaging in peer-to-peer direct transactions with very dismal costs hurts the business that Europe has thrived upon in the banking system.
It is no surprise therefore that laws like these are being put in place although in the guise of protecting the public. However, that will apply mostly in Europe and not any where else where governments continually embrace crypto currencies more so from the under developed countries or the developing countries. This is an opportunity to exercise leadership and take full advantage of these new advantages that ensue from blockchain technology and have a change of paradigm. Countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America have come to realise this and will take full advantage of the situation to turn the tables in their favour in not only defining and designing their development strategies but also to cut dependency on the west. They view this as a window of opportunity to not only finance, but also drive their development agendas to fruition without depending on the World Bank and the IMF, which are in turn controlled by the west.
Therefore if the west i.e. the EU and the US want to remain relevant they should embrace blockchain technology without necessarily limiting its organic growth since it is still in the budding days. They should give it room to grow and it is then, that they will have enough information to regulate and legislate the crypto space. However, in essence blockchain technology is not founded on those principles and this will comprise a serious battle for the users and regulators unless a middle ground based on decentralization and consensus is reached.
Looking forward to your comments and views...
