UK Crypto Exchange CEX.IO Updates KYC - No More Anonymous Transactions
- The firm wants to comply with the EU's fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive.

CEX.IO, a London-based cryptocurrency exchange, now requires that all customers reveal their identities, according to a press release. The change relates to cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency transactions - fiat currency users were already required to identify themselves.
The exchange, which was founded in 2013, classifies itself as self-regulated. This is important in the UK because there, the only regulation relevant to such businesses is a European Union law - the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The law specifically includes virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers.
Eyes abroad
CEX.IO says that the decision was made to "provide users with high-level and reliable service." The company's Regulatory Affairs Counsel, Serhii Mokhniev, said: "We have always understood the importance of dealing with virtual currency within a legal framework, so mandatory verification for customers who transact in fiat currency was introduced long before the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive was adopted in the EU."
The directive becomes mandatory in all EU states in January 2020. The UK may not be counted among their number by then, but cryptocurrency businesses are international affairs, so they are unlikely to be motivated by a call to take our country back. CEX.IO, for example, claims 2.5 million users across the globe and is a registered member of FinCEN, a regulatory branch of the US Department of the Treasury.
It is also one of the founding members of CryptoUK, an organisation by and for British cryptocurrency businesses. One of the aims of the association is to persuade the government to regulate the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term industry, which it has not yet succeeded in doing.
G7 report
On Monday, a report was released by a G7 research group which found that there is a big cryptocurrency exchange-shaped hole in the UK's money-laundering and terrorism-financing detection system. The Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial watchdog, is in no rush whatsoever to remedy this.
CEX.IO, a London-based cryptocurrency exchange, now requires that all customers reveal their identities, according to a press release. The change relates to cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency transactions - fiat currency users were already required to identify themselves.
The exchange, which was founded in 2013, classifies itself as self-regulated. This is important in the UK because there, the only regulation relevant to such businesses is a European Union law - the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The law specifically includes virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers.
Eyes abroad
CEX.IO says that the decision was made to "provide users with high-level and reliable service." The company's Regulatory Affairs Counsel, Serhii Mokhniev, said: "We have always understood the importance of dealing with virtual currency within a legal framework, so mandatory verification for customers who transact in fiat currency was introduced long before the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive was adopted in the EU."
The directive becomes mandatory in all EU states in January 2020. The UK may not be counted among their number by then, but cryptocurrency businesses are international affairs, so they are unlikely to be motivated by a call to take our country back. CEX.IO, for example, claims 2.5 million users across the globe and is a registered member of FinCEN, a regulatory branch of the US Department of the Treasury.
It is also one of the founding members of CryptoUK, an organisation by and for British cryptocurrency businesses. One of the aims of the association is to persuade the government to regulate the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term industry, which it has not yet succeeded in doing.
G7 report
On Monday, a report was released by a G7 research group which found that there is a big cryptocurrency exchange-shaped hole in the UK's money-laundering and terrorism-financing detection system. The Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial watchdog, is in no rush whatsoever to remedy this.