France has just declared war on Bitcoin, with its finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, publishing a decree that introduces oppressive rules to all cryptocurrency companies operating in the country.

Any company that works with cryptocurrencies must implement the rules immediately to verify the identity of all users (KYC), in addition, all unidentified (anonymous) accounts must be blocked. The statement was published on Twitter by Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

"This demand, which emanates from actors in the ecosystem, will make it possible to combat the anonymity of transactions in digital assets and, at the same time, facilitate the identification of users," said the minister.


In other countries, such as Brazil, the rule for identifying customers also exists, but in some companies only when a user moves a certain volume of the digital currency. Thus, it is possible to move a few volumes in some companies that do not require KYC, as in some P2P platforms or decentralized platforms.

In France, however, the rules will be stricter, as it applies to all companies, regardless of volume, and the user will have to complete the entire registration already when creating the account (generally KYC is required when a user tries to withdraw amounts high).

The KYC rule in France was only required by crypto/fiat brokers and cryptocurrency custodians.

The minister said the rule is a necessary action in France's fight against terrorism. The press release cites a terrorist organization that financed itself with cryptocurrencies.

"We must drain the euro from all terrorist financing channels"

Several other countries already have their finger on the trigger to control the market. In the past few days, several world leaders have talked about the regulation of cryptocurrencies. At the last G7 meeting, ministers and governors showed strong support for heavy regulations.

The G7 discussed authorities' policies to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies in illicit activities.

“There is strong support from the G7 on the need to regulate digital currencies. Ministers and governors reiterated their support for the joint G7 declaration on digital payments, issued in October. ”

At the same meeting, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz issued a stern statement on Facebook's cryptocurrency, saying the coin is "a wolf in sheep's clothing".

Despite criticism of the government's attempt to control cryptocurrencies and monitor all transactions, government officials defend themselves saying that the main reason for the measures to come is to prevent the financing of terrorism through cryptocurrencies.

“What we are trying to do in France is to fight the financing of terrorism through cryptography. But our overall objective remains to foster innovation, ” said the source.

Is the government stupid?

Interesting the movement of world governments, but at the same time curious. Cryptocurrencies are essentially decentralized, that is, proof of censorship and control.

The government "banning" transactions will probably mitigate the action of people who use brokers, but anyone who uses digital currencies anonymously will continue to do so, after all, this is one of the main goals of cryptocurrencies, to be able to make transactions without the government being able to control.

Of course, the government must look for ways to combat terrorism and the financing of crimes, but whoever uses cryptocurrencies for this purpose is probably laughing at the new law. In fact, it may even benefit, since as the broker will “close”, users will look for alternatives and end up finding decentralized platforms and P2P markets.

The shot can backfire.

Perhaps it would be better to leave it open to identify the criminals, where they had control.

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