EU Blocks Anonymity-Enhancing Coins on Regulated Venues

The EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation has taken effect, prohibiting crypto-asset service providers from keeping accounts that allow anonymization or obfuscation of transactions.

This rule explicitly covers anonymity-enhancing coins like Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC), so EU venues can no longer service these assets once the regulation applies across member states.

The practical effect is an EU-wide access ban for ZEC and XMR on regulated venues, since custody and trading accounts for these coins fall under the prohibition. Service providers face a compliance choice between delisting and risking breaches of the new framework.