Dutch central bank backs off tightening of rules for Bitcoin exchanges

The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) has revoked its November 17, 2020 decision to impose stricter requirements on cryptocurrency service providers. Bitonic, a local bitcoin exchange, said as much.

DNB formally acknowledges complaints Bitonic and revokes wallet-verification requirementhttps://t.co/gEaE1P0mqo#bitcoin

— Bitonic (@Bitonic) May 20, 2021

The DNB acknowledged that the tightening of rules was “not sufficiently fair”. The regulator said the exchange’s objection was well-founded and cancelled the need for additional monitoring of incoming and outgoing transactions.

The central bank continues to urge cryptocurrency exchanges to take “adequate measures” to verify users and their transactions. Bitonic said they were pleased with the result, and will repeal the rules introduced earlier.

In autumn 2020, the bitcoin exchange obliged customers to confirm every withdrawal address by sending a wallet screenshot or a signed message.

In January 2021, Bitonic sued the DNB. The platform said that the implementation of the expanded verification protocol violates existing privacy laws.

Earlier in April, the Rotterdam district court ordered the central bank to justify the requirements imposed on cryptocurrency service providers.