I can buy a beer with LN, so no, it's not banned.
Don't trust Binance, they'll try to trick you into accepting their own made up tokens instead of Bitcoin. They have no interest in letting you withdraw real Bitcoin.
Topic: Is the Bitcoin Lightning Network banned in Europe? - page 2. (Read 300 times)
Hello,
I have tried to withdraw BTC through the Lightning Network in Binance, but the option is unavailable.
I contacted Binance Customer Service and the agent replied I'm not able to withdraw/deposit through LN because I'm an EU citizen.
It turns out that the new EU regulations have banned the LN in CEX such as Binance and Coinbase. Also other crypto like XMR and DASH have been banned too.
I understood from the Binance Customer Service that EU decided to ban it because the LN transactions cannot be traced.
Even if I'm not allowed to withdraw from/deposit to an CEX, I'm now unsure that I can use the LN in EU at all.
I'm not able to find any information around the topic anywhere in the Internet.
Can I still use the Bitcoin Lightning Network in Europe with wallets supporting it?
Can I be prosecuted because of using it at all?
There are still other altcoins with low fees, but Bitcoin is the most mature and capitalized crypto in the market; the LN enables Bitcoin to be used in everyday transactions.
I can buy a coffee instantly with virtually no fees, and the transaction is confirmed instantaneously.
An analogy I've found useful: Bitcoin is your bank equity and statements and Bitcoin Lightning Network coins are analogue to cash, untraceable and anonymous.
If Bitcoin Lightning Network is banned - cash should be banned equally - shouldn't it?
As far as I know for the time being only financial institutions in EU are prohibited from using XMR, DASH and other privacy coins. Individual users are still allowed to use them as long as they are not transacting with the financial institutions.
However EU is trying to phase out cash indeed. The EU governments are gradually lowering the maximum allowed limit of cash transactions. It varies from country to country but in most cases is somewhere in the range from 1,000 EUR to 5,000 EUR. However these limits are constantly being lowered. For example in Greece they will soon limit the max. cash transaction to 500 EUR.
I have tried to withdraw BTC through the Lightning Network in Binance, but the option is unavailable.
I contacted Binance Customer Service and the agent replied I'm not able to withdraw/deposit through LN because I'm an EU citizen.
It turns out that the new EU regulations have banned the LN in CEX such as Binance and Coinbase. Also other crypto like XMR and DASH have been banned too.
I understood from the Binance Customer Service that EU decided to ban it because the LN transactions cannot be traced.
Even if I'm not allowed to withdraw from/deposit to an CEX, I'm now unsure that I can use the LN in EU at all.
I'm not able to find any information around the topic anywhere in the Internet.
Can I still use the Bitcoin Lightning Network in Europe with wallets supporting it?
Can I be prosecuted because of using it at all?
There are still other altcoins with low fees, but Bitcoin is the most mature and capitalized crypto in the market; the LN enables Bitcoin to be used in everyday transactions.
I can buy a coffee instantly with virtually no fees, and the transaction is confirmed instantaneously.
An analogy I've found useful: Bitcoin is your bank equity and statements and Bitcoin Lightning Network coins are analogue to cash, untraceable and anonymous.
If Bitcoin Lightning Network is banned - cash should be banned equally - shouldn't it?
As far as I know for the time being only financial institutions in EU are prohibited from using XMR, DASH and other privacy coins. Individual users are still allowed to use them as long as they are not transacting with the financial institutions.
However EU is trying to phase out cash indeed. The EU governments are gradually lowering the maximum allowed limit of cash transactions. It varies from country to country but in most cases is somewhere in the range from 1,000 EUR to 5,000 EUR. However these limits are constantly being lowered. For example in Greece they will soon limit the max. cash transaction to 500 EUR.
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