17 Amendments of Fulvio MARTUSCIELLO related to 2016/2007(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas a universal applicable definition is not established yet, the EBA understands virtual currencies (VCs) are privately governeds a digital representations of value denominated in their own unit of account and referred to as private digital cash,that is neither issued by a central bank nor a public authority and which is used by natural or legal persons as a means of exchange and can be transferred, stored or traded electronically; also VCs are understood to be most notably based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), the technological basis for more than 600 VC schemes18 , the most prominent of which to date is bitcoin, with a market share of almost 90 % and a market value of the outstanding bitcoins of around EUR 5 billion19 ; __________________ 18 19http://www.bis.org/cpmi/publ/d137.pdf http://www.bis.org/cpmi/publ/d137.pdf 19 http://coinmarketcap.com/ http://coinmarketcap.com/
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) dramatically lowering transaction costs for payments and transfer of funds, quite possibly well below 1%, compared to 2% - 4% for traditional online payment systems21, and to more than 7 % on average for the cross- border transfer of remittances22 , hence potentially reducing global total costs for remittances by up to EUR 20 billion; __________________ 21 https://www.eba.europa.eu/documents/101 80/657547/EBA-Op-2014- 08+Opinion+on+Virtual+Currencies.pdf 22 https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/site s/default/files/rpw_report_december_2015. pdf
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – point e
(e) using such systems to develop online micropayment systems that could conceivably replace some of the present data-hungry online business models which significantly challengerespects individual privacy;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 – point a
Paragraph 2 – point a
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
Paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
(ba) the risk of evasion of tax regulations in that, because of the decentralised nature of VCs and the absence of regulation, there may be uncertainties and loopholes in the taxation of VCs;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 – point c a (new)
Paragraph 2 – point c a (new)
(ca) the highly volatile nature of the exchange rate of VCs, which means that gambling on the future value of bitcoins can be a typical aggressive sign of a speculative bubble;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 – point d
Paragraph 2 – point d
(d) the legal uncertainty surrounding new applications of DLT, which may in some instances be the subject of (sometimes ill- suited) existing legislation while in other instances appropriate regulation may still be lacking;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
Paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
(da) the absence of forms of safeguard or guarantee for sums ‘deposited’, because, in the event of fraud, bankruptcy or cessation of operation of trading platforms, no specific legislative protection exists which could cover the losses suffered, and because, in the event of malfunctions, hacking attacks and losses, there is a risk of permanently losing the currency;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 – point d b (new)
Paragraph 2 – point d b (new)
(db) the potential for money laundering, terrorist financing and tax fraud based on the ‘pseudonymity’ and ‘mixing services’ that some such services offer, bearing in mind that the traceability of cash transactions tends to be much lower still; __________________ 1 While there is potential for use of VC for terrorist financing, Europol has recently (18 January 2016) pointed out that ‘despite third party reporting suggesting the use of anonymous currencies like Bitcoin by terrorists to finance their activities, this has not been confirmed by law enforcement’.
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Encourages government agencies to test DLT systems in order to improve the provision of services to citizens, while cautioning on the outsourcing of public services to proprietary privateIn view of the absence of sufficient commercial or regulatory data asks government agencies to conducts proper impact analysis before testing DLT schystemes;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recommends that government agencies explore the use of real-time DLT based supervision and reporting tools as part of a RegTech agenda in the financial sector and beyond, including in order to reduce the sizeable VAT gap in the Union26 ; __________________ 26http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP- 15-5592_en.htm;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the Commission’s suggestions for including VC exchange platforms in the AMLD; expects that any proposals in this regard are based on a valid impact assessment; recommends further extending the scope to custodian wallet providers if and when the use of the VC(s) in question were to become so prevalent that users would no longer routinely need to exchange their VCs into legal tender;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 – introductory part
Paragraph 14 – introductory part
14. AsksInsists that the Commission, on the basis of the fi carries out a valid and ings of TF DLT, to depth impact assessment when exploreing the need for a legislative proposal requiring VCs and other DLT scheme actors which do not yet have to comply with suitable standards based on existing regulation to demonstrate whether theirdifferent options of how to address the possible potentials and risks of VCs and other DLT scheme:s;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 – point 1
Paragraph 14 – point 1
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 – point 2
Paragraph 14 – point 2