According to the financial media portals, the European Union's ministers of economy and finance will hold an informal meeting on the challenges posed by digital assets and the possibility of tightening the rules. It is possible, that during a meeting in Vienna on September 7, participants will discuss the general lack of transparency of cryptocurrencies and the possibility of using them to evade taxes, finance terrorism and money laundering.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has previously warned clients against preliminary monetary offers (ICO), citing the lack of sufficient understanding of this type of financing by investors and problems with unregulated financial activities. ESMA also noted that unregulated exchanges are unprotected due to the fact that they exist outside global financial regulations - which means that customer losses caused by, for example, cyber attacks, will not be covered by EU law.
Contrary to earlier warnings from the European Union's financial regulators, the document obtained by Bloomberg says that ICOs are an effective and efficient way to raise capital. It also states that ICOs could help in the integration of capital markets in the EU.
The 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive entered into force on 9 July. The measures under this Directive set a new legal framework for European financial supervisors in the regulation of digital currencies. The new rules introduce stricter transparency requirements targeting "anonymous pre-paid payments" and "virtual currency exchange platforms" to address money laundering and terrorist financing.
In March, ESMA strengthened the requirements for cryptocurrency CFDs. According to the rules, investors must have enough funds to cover at least half of the contract value at the opening, which has changed the leverage limit for cryptocurrencies CFD from 5: 1 to 2: 1 at the time of opening.
Let's now take a look at the Bitcoin technical picture at the H4 time frame. The market has bounced from the level of $6,755, which is just below the technical support at the level of $6,782. Currently, the market is trading below the weekly pivot resistance at the level of $6,989 in overbought conditions. The next target for bulls is the local swing high at $7,087. Please notice, that the market is still trading inside of the channel, so there is still a chance for another rally higher.
