EU plans crackdown on bitcoin

EU interior and justice ministers will meet in Brussels on Friday for a crisis meeting called after the Paris terrorist attck of last weekend.

European Union countries plan a crackdown on virtual currencies and anonymous payments made online and via pre-paid cards in a bid to tackle terrorism financing.

The ministers will urge the European Commission, the EU executive arm, to propose measures to “strengthen controls of non-banking payment methods such as electronic/anonymous payments and virtual currencies (bitcoin) and transfers of gold, precious metals, by pre-paid cards.

EU ministers also plan “to curb more effectively the illicit trade in cultural goods.