Christian Sillaber
Christian Sillaber is a Senior Researcher at the Faculty of Law, University of Bern. His research focuses on privacy and AML compliance in digital currencies, including both decentralized cryptocurrencies and centrally managed systems.
Session
This talk analyses how the U.S. (GENIUS Act), EU (forthcoming AMLD7) and other jurisdictions are currently reshaping privacy rules in cryptocurrencies.
The GENIUS Act imposes BSA/AML/KYC duties and seizure powers on stablecoin issuers, ending de facto anonymity for USD-pegged assets. MiCA mandates licensed CASPs with full transaction tracing, while AMLD7 is prohibitive towards anonymous accounts and privacy coins.
The current state reveals a rapid shift from pseudonymity to regulated identifiability, with CASPs required to perform enhanced due diligence and real-time monitoring. The increasing rift between compliant, traceable on-chain activity for institutional use alongside offshore or self-custodial workarounds facing heightened enforcement risk as well as the legal assessment of privacy-enhancing technologies will be discussed.