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Estonia’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement that the country’s draft legislation for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) will not be banning customers from owning or trading crypto.
The statement released on Sunday came after recent rumors that the proposed bill would ban decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-custodial wallets.
Estonia’s Minister of Finance Keit Pentus-Rosimannus clarified that the bill is intended to tighten anti-money laundering (AML) requirements for VASPs, mainly to avoid the creation of anonymous accounts. If approved, Estonian VASPs will have to ask their customers for identification when offering accounts or wallets. The statement reads:
“This means that the legislation does not contain any measures to ban customers from owning and trading virtual assets and does not in any way require customers to share their private keys to wallets.”
Furthermore, on Monday, the Finance Ministry published an informational page addressing commonly asked questions about the proposed bill, which is Estonia’s answer to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidance on regulating VASPs.
The publication reiterated that no services are to be banned and entities that “wish to provide such services in Estonia” have to simply comply with AML rules. The bill is now sent to Parliament, and if approved, will come into force in the first half of 2022.