EU To End Geoblocking For Digital Currency Users, Blockchain, Bitcoin Wallets Affected

By William Suberg for The CoinTelegraph

The European Union is seeking to end geoblocking of citizens in member states who use digital currencies.

A draft outline by the European Union Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection “aims to lift any unjustified barriers in e-commerce and to be a decisive step towards the completion of the Digital Single Market.”

Geoblocking is the process of displaying certain content – or banning certain content – for internet users based on their physical location.

The EU is slowly eradicating the practice, notably when German copyright association GEMA allowed citizens to access music content on YouTube after a multi-year hiatus. However, banned content has always been available through the use of VPN connections.

Addressing Blockchain-based technologies directly, the EU states:

“… [The] Commission should assess whether to provide the legal framework that allows, subject to the freedom of contract principle, the protection of undertakings and consumers when the transaction is carried through alternative modes of payment, including virtual currencies, other Blockchain type transactions and e – wallets.”

The move is the latest in a series of noises the bloc has made about digital currency regulation, having previously announced stricter anti-money laundering policies in July last year.

First appeared at The CoinTelegraph