EU to Ban Privacy Coin Services From July 10, 2027

The European Union will ban services tied to privacy coins from next year.

Under Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, which takes effect on July 10, 2027, anti-money laundering obligations for crypto-asset service providers in the bloc will be significantly tightened, industry officials said on June 19.

The regulation explicitly bans services related to privacy coins, as well as anonymous crypto-asset accounts and other arrangements that make transactions harder to trace. Exchanges and custodians within the EU regulatory perimeter will therefore be barred from listing, holding or supporting trading in those assets. The law does not, however, prohibit individuals from owning or privately using such coins.

Crypto-asset service providers covered by the rules must also conduct full customer due diligence, or CDD, for occasional crypto-asset transactions exceeding 1,000 euros. Even for smaller transactions, some level of identity verification will still be required.

Direct peer-to-peer transactions are excluded from the new identity verification requirement, despite concerns in the market. That is because the regulation targets crypto-asset service providers rather than all blockchain transactions. Still, if more than 1,000 euros is sent to a personal wallet through a regulated intermediary, information on both the sender and recipient must be transmitted and additional verification procedures must be completed.

The anti-money laundering regime will also expand to cover a broader range of industries. Professional football clubs and agents, crowdfunding operators, investment migration firms and luxury goods dealers — sectors classified as vulnerable to money laundering — will be required to verify compliance and report suspicious transactions.

The EU also strengthened beneficial ownership transparency requirements. Companies in the bloc must clearly disclose their ultimate owners based on a 25% ownership threshold, lowered to 15% for high-risk structures. Trusts and foundations involved in business or real estate transactions in the EU must update ownership information within 28 days.