In January 2020, the regulatory landscape for crypto businesses will completely change in the European Union in comparison with the last decade — and these changes will touch all those who store clients’ crypto funds or provide fiat-to-crypto exchange services, at minimum.
Not long ago, the Anti-Money Laundering regulations were extended to cover cryptocurrency custodian wallet service providers and crypto-to-fiat exchanges in the EU. The legislation known as the EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive entered into force on July 9, 2018, and shall be transposed into the national legislation of each EU member state by Jan. 10, 2020. Before that, cryptocurrencies, in most cases, fell outside of the EU regulatory regime.