eu

The European Union is preparing another major step in its efforts to prevent Russia from bypassing international sanctions. As part of the proposed 21st sanctions package, EU officials are reportedly planning to target eleven cryptocurrency platforms suspected of facilitating financial transactions connected to sanctioned entities.
If approved, the measures would represent another sign that the crypto sector is becoming an increasingly important focus for European regulators.
EU Aims to Close Another Sanctions Loophole
According to comments from EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, Brussels is seeking to prevent digital assets from being used as an alternative channel for moving capital outside the traditional banking system.
European authorities have repeatedly warned that certain cryptocurrency services may serve as intermediaries for transferring funds between sanctioned individuals, companies, and foreign jurisdictions.
For that reason, the European Union intends to expand its sanctions framework to cover additional parts of the digital financial infrastructure.
Although the names of the targeted platforms have not yet been disclosed, the measures are expected to affect companies that investigators believe have enabled the movement of funds beyond the reach of existing restrictions.
Crypto Under Growing Regulatory Scrutiny
The proposed action builds on previous sanctions packages that already targeted certain cryptocurrency services operating in Russia.
European institutions increasingly argue that digital assets enable fast cross-border transactions without relying on traditional banks. While this is one of blockchain technology’s key advantages, regulators believe it can also create opportunities to circumvent financial restrictions.
The EU’s approach mirrors efforts undertaken by the United States and the United Kingdom. In recent years, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned several crypto exchanges, payment services, and mixing platforms allegedly linked to money laundering operations and sanctioned entities.
A New Era of Compliance for Crypto Platforms
For cryptocurrency companies operating in Europe, the new sanctions serve as another reminder that compliance requirements continue to intensify.
Exchanges and digital asset service providers are being forced to invest heavily in customer verification procedures (KYC), transaction monitoring systems, and sanctions screening tools.
Failure to comply with these obligations could result in substantial penalties and, in extreme cases, exclusion from access to European markets.
The move also sends a clear message to crypto businesses outside the EU. Regulators are increasingly signaling that enforcement will focus not only on where a company is registered, but also on how it conducts its operations and handles potentially high-risk transactions.
The Entire Crypto Industry Could Feel the Impact
The proposed sanctions package highlights the growing view within the European Union that cryptocurrency infrastructure has become a critical component of the global financial system.
While crypto advocates continue to emphasize the benefits of decentralization and open access to financial services, regulators remain focused on preventing money laundering, illegal financing activities, and sanctions evasion.
If the new measures are approved, they could represent one of the most significant actions taken by the EU against cryptocurrency platforms since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine.
The outcome will not only affect the targeted companies but could also influence the future direction of crypto regulation across Europe.
#crypto , #bitcoin , #Eu , #russia , #CryptoRegulation
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The EU is drafting unified taxes on crypto and online gambling to fund its next budget. Getting all 27 members to agree is a different problem entirely.
Key Takeaways:
0.1% transaction tax on crypto could generate €3-4B annually.Unified crypto capital gains tax projected at €1-2.4B per year.Combined crypto taxes could reach €20B across the 2028-2034 budget.3% gambling levy on operator margins estimated at €1.9B per year.All 27 member states must unanimously approve for any of this to pass.
The European Commission is building its case for the 2028-2034 long-term budget, and the numbers it needs are large. The current proposal package targets roughly €11 billion in new annual revenue, combining taxes on Big Tech digital services, online gambling, and cryptocurrency. Across the full seven-year cycle that approaches €77 billion in additional spending capacity. The Commission needs new sources, and two industries it has historically undertaxed at the EU level are now squarely in frame.
The crypto and gambling proposals are still internal drafts being reviewed by member states. Nothing has been voted on. But the mechanics being evaluated are specific enough to signal where Brussels is heading.
How the Crypto Tax Would Work
The Commission is looking at two separate layers. The first is a transaction tax of 0.1% applied to cryptocurrency trading volumes across the bloc. That rate sounds modest, but applied to the scale of European crypto activity the Commission estimates it could generate between €3 billion and €4 billion per year. The second layer targets capital gains directly, with a unified rate projected to add another €1 billion to €2.4 billion annually. Together, the two streams could bring in around €20 billion over the full budget cycle.
The logic behind unifying these at EU level rather than leaving them to individual member states is fragmentation. Right now, a trader in Germany faces different tax obligations than one in Portugal or Estonia. A unified framework would close those gaps and, in theory, make avoidance through jurisdiction shopping harder.
What makes the estimates shaky is the Commission's own acknowledgment that crypto figures carry high uncertainty. Market volatility makes projections difficult, and tracking decentralized users who may hold assets across multiple wallets and protocols is an unsolved problem. The €3-4 billion figure assumes a level of compliance and traceability that does not yet fully exist.
The Gambling Side
The online gambling proposal is structurally simpler. A 3% levy on the net margins of online gambling operators, meaning the revenue they keep after paying out winnings, is projected to generate approximately €1.9 billion per year. Over the 2028-2034 window that adds up to around €13.3 billion.
The rationale here is also fragmentation. Online gambling regulation varies dramatically across member states, and some countries have become registration hubs for operators who then serve customers across the entire bloc. A centralized levy would cut through that structure.
Malta has already signaled opposition. The island nation hosts a disproportionate share of internationally licensed betting operators and stands to lose significant economic activity if those operators face new EU-level costs on top of existing national frameworks.
The third stream in the package targets Big Tech directly. The Commission calculated that a 3% tax on net revenues from digital advertising, data monetization and online intermediation could generate approximately €5 billion per year, based on 2024 revenue data from Spain, France and Italy, all of which already run similar national levies. The threshold would apply to companies exceeding €750 million in global group turnover. That €5 billion, combined with the crypto and gambling projections, is how the Commission arrives at the €11 billion annual figure
Where It Could Break Down
The biggest obstacle is not technical, it is procedural. Under EU law, tax matters require unanimous approval from all 27 member states. A single holdout can block the entire package. Malta's position on gambling is one pressure point. The broader question of how crypto taxes get applied to decentralized protocols is another.
Industry observers have pointed out that a 0.1% transaction tax, if applied broadly, could push significant trading volume toward self-custody wallets and non-EU decentralized finance platforms that operate outside any jurisdiction's reach. The tax would then collect less than projected while accelerating the migration of activity away from regulated European venues, which is the opposite of what the DAC8 directive, the EU's recently implemented framework requiring crypto platforms to automatically share user transaction data with tax authorities, was designed to prevent.
DAC8 created the reporting infrastructure. These new proposals are the attempt to build a revenue layer on top of it. Whether the architecture holds together depends on how member states weigh the projected revenue against the compliance costs, the political opposition, and the very real possibility that parts of the crypto industry simply move beyond their reach.
#EU #crypto

Reports circulating across the crypto space suggest that the European Union is preparing stricter compliance rules, including lower cash usage limits, tighter KYC requirements for crypto transactions, and increased pressure on privacy-focused coins. Some discussions also claim that certain privacy assets like Monero, Zcash, and Dash could face restrictions or delistings on regulated EU platforms over time, with implementation timelines extending into 2027.
At the same time, contrasting global approaches are emerging. The United States continues to explore more investor-friendly frameworks such as tax clarity and potential capital gains reforms, while regions like the UAE are actively expanding crypto banking licenses and institutional adoption.
This growing regulatory divergence highlights a key narrative in global markets: capital tends to move toward jurisdictions offering clearer rules and more favorable conditions for innovation.
Whether Europe’s approach becomes a long-term restriction or a compliance-driven restructuring remains to be seen, but the policy gap between regions is becoming increasingly visible.$ZEC
#Crypto #Regulation #EU #Bitcoin #Web3 $XMR $DASH