| > What you are describing is the use of permissionless contracts to avoid AML/KYC compliance law, which is partly what the Directives are designed to criminalise. The goal of this is not to avoid the KYC laws. Unfortunately the technology makes it impossible to comply with them as the laws do not account for permissionless smart contract functionality. Many artists and corporations are now selling NFTs without the ability to get KYC on every transaction, because this data does not exist on the blockchain and cannot be acquired unless you are a legal authority that has the ability to request private data from a CEX. Saying it “must” be acquired for 10K+ transfers is basically saying those transfers must be criminalized. NFT sales were not on anybody’s radar before 2021, especially not EU lawmakers. In the next few years it seems likely there will be more regulatory clarity so that people can make taxable income on NFTs without being treated as criminals as in the OP case. > I think this really puts your bias front and centre. How so? It is clear to me this law is not compatible with the way the blockchain works and the OP being criminalized for selling art is a good example of how it will hurt regular citizens. Meanwhile corporations and brands selling NFTs probably will be fine as they have larger legal teams and regulators are less likely to try and fight them. The solution to this AML law is either to treat all these blockchain transactions as illegal and continue to criminalize the behaviour, as you are suggesting, or to define new laws that take into consideration the way that blockchain transactions do not allow sellers to request KYC, and instead push that AML reporting requirement on the CEXes. |
If so, you are delusional. Lawmakers are not going to carve out an exemption for blockchain transactions when the explicit goal of the EU is to bring them under robust regulation.
Once again, the outcome that is upsetting you is the intended goal of the Directives. If in doubt, Google “AML5 crypto”. After all, it is the Directive that brought crypto exchanges under AML rules and almost certainly is the reason that the OP (irrespective of whether they broke any rules) came under investigation.
Finally, I believe your own biases hide from you how similar this legislation is when applied to fiat, barter, and crypto transactions.
In the EU, you cannot lawfully undertake high-value transactions without KYC. Whether you agree with that or not (and I don’t), it is the law of the land, widely accepted and implemented, and not unpopular. Sort of a legislative change of tack, regulation will continue in this vein.