The regulations, scheduled for publication in the EU official journal, compel cryptocurrency companies to disclose customers’ asset holdings to be exchanged among tax authorities.

The European Union’s finance ministers formally approved new regulations allowing tax authorities to exchange information about individuals’ cryptocurrency holdings on Tuesday. The document will soon be published in the EU’s Official Journal and will become effective 20 days thereafter. These rules, introduced last year, aim to prevent the use of cryptocurrency for hiding assets abroad and received unanimous support from EU member states, even though most of the discussions were held behind closed doors.

In May, CoinDesk obtained a draft bill under freedom of information laws, revealing that the rules now cover a wide range of digital assets, including stablecoins, NFTs, DeFi tokens, and staking proceeds.

DAC8, or the Eighth Directive on Administrative Cooperation, compels cryptocurrency firms to report customer asset data, facilitating automatic sharing among tax authorities. This directive complements MiCA and TFR regulations, enhancing tax fraud detection and now includes financial institutions dealing with electronic money and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).