Coinbase is calling to arms, as the European Union is about to take a vote on yet another controversial bill. Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer of the exchange took to his medium blog to call upon the crypto community to voice their opinions.
The main issue with the new law that the crypto enthusiasts criticize is its outdated stance on digital assets that stems from several stereotypes, such as Bitcoin being the main money-laundering device, or the inability to track movements of such funds, neither of which is true.
It is implied that should the bill pass, the EU would require detailed records of personal information on the crypto exchanges’ clients. According to Coinbase, the new law could “unleash an entire surveillance regime on exchanges like Coinbase, stifle innovation, and undermine the self-hosted wallets that individuals use to securely protect their digital assets.”
Coinbase believes that the new law would impose an invasion of privacy onto the exchange’s clients. Furthermore, it is set to discriminate against crypto, as it directly favors fiat transactions.
Crypto influencers are of the same opinion. Patrick Hensen, for example, also took to his Twitter to say that he did not want to “ring the alarm bell again, but the EU Parliament leaves us no choice.”
This is the second time within a period of a few months that the European Union will be trying to clip crypto’s wings, after an unsuccessful vote on banning the Proof-of-Work mining algorithm earlier this month. Hopefully, the crypto community will be heard and prevent yet another unfavorable law.
