To ensure that NFT platforms or other businesses offering services linked to NFTs are covered by the rule, policymakers in the European Parliament are proposing revisions to the contents of an EU anti-money laundering bill. This deviates from the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, the European Union‘s standard-setting crypto law, which expressly excluded them.
The MiCA framework provides the groundwork for crypto regulation throughout the 27-nation bloc and is anticipated to pass a final vote next month. While lawmakers purposefully excluded NFT platforms from its application, operators are likely to be subject to the new AML regulations’ duties.
“NFTs Platform Should also be Included”
According to a draft of the AML proposal obtained by The Block and confirmed by numerous sources familiar with the negotiations, “NFT platforms are excluded from the MiCA Regulation’s present definition of crypto-asset service providers to the extent that they do not offer services in fungible and non-unique crypto assets. NFT platforms should be incorporated in the horizontal AML/CFT framework as a separate category of obligated businesses in order to fill this gap and reduce related money laundering and terrorist financing concerns.”
The NFT Markets are a “Growing Weakness”
NFTs were initially covered by the AML rule in September, but the additional phrasing may provide them even more legal protection. NFT markets are a “growing weakness” in the battle against illicit financial flows, according to the Financial Action Task Force, a global organization charged with monitoring money laundering.
On March 28, the two parliamentary committees presiding over the discussions will vote on the modifications, and then the entire document will be put to the vote. The measure will then advance to the floor for a vote before going into inter-institutional talks. Recently, as Parliament clarified the definitions and their ramifications, self-hosted wallets, and addresses came under scrutiny in the AML regulation. The measure may have avoided a complete EU prohibition on non-custodial services by making things clear.