Germany Plans to Bring Crypto Accounts Into Account Query System; Draft Allows Five-Working-Day Freeze

November 11 — According to CryptoTicker, a ministerial draft dated October 28 from the German Federal Ministry of Finance shows that Germany's account query system will in future cover crypto accounts. Under the draft, crypto exchanges and other crypto asset service providers must enter customer account master data into the account query procedure stipulated in Section 24c of the German Banking Act, so that authorities can see which platform a user holds an account with, when it was opened and whether it still exists, but not balances or individual transactions. In addition, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) may freeze crypto asset accounts for up to five working days when money laundering is suspected, and an objection cannot lift the freeze. The draft is still undergoing inter-ministerial coordination and has not yet taken effect; the new anti-money laundering law is planned to replace the current law on July 10, 2027.