EU Anti-Money Laundering, Digital Currencies and Privacy

Author: Andreas Karapatakis
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781509982776
Published In: August 2026
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Description
Contents

Details

Through an examination of the underlying technology driving digital currencies, this book offers a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms governing their operation, clarifying complex legal concepts and confronting the pressing issue of anonymity inherent in digital currency transactions.

The book focuses on two categories of digital currencies: cryptocurrencies (eg, bitcoin) and in-game currencies (the currencies used in the closed virtual environment of a game). Despite their differences in governance – cryptocurrencies being decentralised and in-game currencies being centralised – they share significant similarities in terms of anonymity, which presents a notable issue within the anti-money laundering (AML) framework.

Against the backdrop of both the international AML standards developed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the European Union AML regime, the book examines the AML compliance stage of the private sector and, specifically, the collection and retention of data relating to digital currency users. It analyses the new AML Regulation, alongside the 5th AML Directive, the Market in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation and the 'Travel Rule' Regulation, to construct a complete picture of the obligations imposed on virtual asset service providers and to assess whether the new framework disproportionately interferes with the right to privacy and data protection of the end user. In doing so, the book offers the first legal assessment of the proportionality of private-sector AML obligations in the field of digital currencies based on the argument that, in this context, EU AML law is increasingly transforming into a surveillance regime.

Introduction: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Law, Fundamental Rights and the Digital Turn

Part 1

1. Digital Currencies: An Analysis of the Technological Characteristics

2. The Crime of Money Laundering and Digital Currencies

Introduction: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Law, Fundamental Rights and the Digital Turn

Part 2

3. The International Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regime of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

4. The Evolution of the European Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regime and the Policy Choice to Regulate Digital Currencies

Introduction: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Law, Fundamental Rights and the Digital Turn

Part 3

5. Revisiting Anonymity and Trust under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regime: Why Structural Differences Between Banks and Virtual Asset Service Providers Matter

6. The Extension of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regime to Digital Currencies: A Privacy Appraisal

Conclusion