UK prime minister Boris Johnson is planning a major crackdown legislation on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry. The intention is to force dirty money of Britain.
The UK will introduce legislation this year to regulate Bitcoin and ensure authorities can seize ransomware proceeds. This crucial move will enable authorities to have the power to proceeds made from ransomware.
It’s aimed at strengthening laws that have empowered its Russian sanction packages and empower authorities to seize cryptocurrency assets.
Thus the bill would help force dirty money out of Britain. By dirty money of the associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to be precise. Johnson wants to make sure Putin’s minions are not in any way able to benefit from the UK economy.
How exactly will the UK legislation for Bitcoin work?
According to Express, Prince Charles set out the legislative agenda of Mr Johnson’s Government. He said that the bill is to further strengthen powers to tackle illicit finance, reduce economic crime and help businesses grow.
In March, the Government passed an Economic Crime Act, before then sanctioning hundreds of Russian individuals and entities. These measures are quite similar to those imposed by the European Union and US.
The Government said the new bill will build on that Economic Crime Act and will introduce identity verification for people who control companies in the UK. This will allow the authorities to clearly understand whether there are any Russian trying to benefit from the UK economy with crypto.
The new UK legislation for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will help boost the reliability of data held by the Registrar of Companies. It will also provide Companies House with effective investigation and enforcement.
But there is more.
Possible privacy issues for Bitcoin users in the UK
The new legislation proposed by Johnson will also empower authorities to accelerate and swiftly seize and recover crypto assets from those who effectively break the law.
Old laws aren’t always provide much help when the authorities are trying to seize assets from cryptocurrency. In many cases criminals have been able to get away with Bitcoin and other crypto assets. This is one of the tasks for the new UK legislation for Bitcoin.
It is not clear, though, how much of the increased control will affect ordinary crypto users in the UK. Could it be so that every Bitcoin owner will have to be clearly identified? We’ll have to wait and see. This is kind of important, and privacy and anonymity have always been key features of the crypto industry.
Even if the new UK legislation for Bitcoin and crypto will primarily target Russians, the mort important question is whether it will strike upon ordinary users.
Source: Express
