Canada publishes new cryptocurrency bill

Canada Gazette has released an official draft regulating crypto-currency exchange platforms. To stop the distressing drift of virtual currencies, the Canadian government has found it necessary to make some improvements to the Counter- Terrorist Financing (CTF) system.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are money services businesses (MSBs)

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) highlighted some serious shortcomings in Canada's anti- money laundering and anti- terrorist financing regime (AML / FAT). A new bill will remedy these deficiencies assessed in 2015-2016 .

Crypto-exchanges will also be considered as money services businesses. They will be required to report all their transactions over $ 10,000 (US $ 7,700). In addition, the KYC (Identity Verification) procedure will be automatically activated from a threshold of $ 1,000 Canadian or $ 770 US. Traders will not be able to process more than $ 1,000 unless they provide their name, address, phone number, occupation, and date of birth.

The cost-benefit analysis of the project indicates that the proposed regulation would cost about $ 61 million ($ 47 million) over the next 10 years.

Some resistances

Francis Pouliot, co-founder of Catallaxy, a consulting firm on Blockchain based in Montreal commented on the bill on Twitter.

"The term " large cryptocurrency transactions " means that companies must request and keep the details of each transaction over $ 10,000, such as reports of large transactions in fiat currency. It will be extremely difficult and invasive to implement. I will oppose it. "

The policies of the intergovernmental organization FATF are not legally binding. However, according to the project, "the implementation of these regulations will have a positive impact on Canada's international reputation," says the government. "

What do you think of the new Canadian bill? Comment in the comments section below.