Did the EU really ban anonymous Bitcoin transactions starting in 2027?
At the beginning of November, information appeared on X.com about new MiCA rules for the EU crypto space. This says that the EU will require ID for every BTC transaction starting in 2027. Also, all cash payments over €10,000 will be banned. Let's find out where the truth is.
Read more: MiCA Regulation Explained: What ByBit’s EU License Means for You
What Happened
Recently, some X accounts have spread information about banning €10,000 cash payments and requiring ID for every BTC transaction starting in 2027. Authors emphasized that “The EU’s AMLR caps cash payments at €10K and applies ID rules to crypto service providers, not every Bitcoin transaction. But every regulation moves in one direction: toward control.”
Against the backdrop of broader tightening of cryptocurrency oversight, this looks familiar and, more importantly, plausible. But that is not quite the case.
What the latest changes in EU regulations (2024-2027) really claim
1. ‘The EU banned cash payment over €10,000’
It’s false because the EU does not ban cash as such. The new €10,000 limit applies to cash payments for business transactions. Private transfers between individuals are not affected.
The regulation says: “The proposal contains a provision preventing traders in goods or services from accepting cash payments of over EUR 10 000 for a single purchase, while allowing Member States to maintain in force lower ceilings for large cash transactions. This ceiling does not apply to private operations between individuals.”
Article 59 of this document says that persons trading in goods or providing services may accept or make a payment in cash only up to an amount of EUR 10 000 or equivalent amount in national or foreign currency, whether the transaction is carried out in a single operation or in several operations which appear to be linked.
This limit shall not apply to payments between natural persons who are not acting in a professional function.
Compliance with the new legislation will be monitored by the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which will also begin full-fledged work in Frankfurt am Main in 2027.
2. ‘The EU will require ID for every Bitcoin transaction starting in 2027’
Here is the key document: Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 31, 2023, “on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets”.
This regulation introduces a so-called Travel rule for crypto transfers: obligations are imposed on crypto asset service providers (CASP) rather than on the Bitcoin protocol itself.
EU legislation does not require identity verification for every Bitcoin transaction. Identification is only mandatory when a user interacts with a regulated crypto-asset service provider (CASP), such as an exchange, a custodial wallet, or a payment operator, which under Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 must collect and verify customer information as part of AML/KYC obligations.
These rules do not apply to direct transfers between self-custodial wallets, since such transactions do not involve a service provider and therefore fall outside the scope of the Travel Rule.
Read more: How MiCA impacts self-custodial wallets in the EU
Additional verification measures apply only when transfers over €1,000 occur between a CASP and a self-custodial wallet, and even then the requirement concerns the service provider’s due diligence rather than the on-chain transaction itself. In short, peer-to-peer transfers between private wallets remain unregulated, and the EU does not require ID for every Bitcoin transaction.
Read more: Crypto Platforms in Europe: Rules, Risks, and How They Work Under MiCA
The Bottom Line
Despite the alarming headlines circulating online, the recent EU regulations do not require identity verification for every Bitcoin transaction, nor do they restrict peer-to-peer transfers between self-custodial wallets. Most of the new rules apply only to regulated service providers, not to individual users sending crypto from their own private wallets. That’s why it’s important not to react sharply to viral posts and instead rely on primary legal sources before drawing conclusions. And if you’re using Coin Wallet, your funds remain safe, you aren’t violating any regulations, and your privacy and self-custody stay fully intact.