Bitcoin Rises; EU Passes Verification Rules for Crypto Exchanges

Investing.com – and other virtual coins were higher on Friday as the European Union Parliament supported a move to require cryptocurrency exchanges to apply customer verification rules to their platforms.

The move was passed with 574 votes yes and 15 votes no, with 60 abstentions. Under the measure, exchanges, platforms and wallet providers will have to apply due diligence procedures that are designed to combat money laundering. Customer verification is one of those procedures. The rules would also reduce the amount for identifying holders of prepaid cards from €250 to €150.

The measures were introduced in response to the terrorist attacks of 2015 and 2016 in Paris and Brussels, officials said.

“Criminals use anonymity to launder their illicit proceeds or finance terrorism,” said Member of the European Parliament Krisjanis Karins. “This legislation helps address the threats to our citizens and the financial sector by allowing greater access to the information about the people behind firms and by tightening rules regulating virtual currencies and anonymous prepaid cards.”

Bitcoin was trading at $8,529.40 rising 3.27% as of 9:10 AM ET (13:10 GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange.

Other virtual currencies were higher, with rival , the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rising 8.00% to $590.29 on the Bitfinex exchange. , the third largest virtual currency, increased 16.43% to $0.86387 while was at $151.08, an increase of 6.53%.

In other news, JPMorgan (NYSE:) is testing a blockchain platform for issuing financial instruments with the National Bank of Canada. The platform was built using Quorum, an open-source blockchain developed by JPMorgan. Banks are hoping to use the technology behind cryptocurrencies to streamline banking processes such as cross-border payments and securities settlements.

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