The signal goes on, and he shows up. Thats the way its been. Thats the way it will be.Whenever Gotham faces an existential threat, the Bat-Signal lights up the night sky. In the DC Comics universe, Batman always shows up to save the day when hes called upon.

Bitcoiners in Germany employed a similar tactic this week, emblazoning the preeminent cryptocurrencys logo with a message to study Bitcoin on the side of the European Central Bank building in Frankfurt.The images were shared widely across social media, with notable Bitcoin (BTC) proponents and various company profiles lauding the display.

A dose of the proverbial Orange Pill is particularly pertinent, given that the global banking sector has been under the spotlight after thecollapse of major institutions, such as Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States.

Meanwhile, European parliamentarians adopted a new draft bill focused on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), which sets out potential new rules enforcing Know Your Customer requirements for traditional financial and crypto-related services.

In addition, parliamentarians seek to restrict cash and cryptocurrency payments for goods and services where customers cannot be identified. As per the draft legislation, the rules limit cash payments to up to 7,000 euros for cryptocurrency transactions or 1,000 euros if the users identity is unknown.

Related: Silicon Valley Banks downfall has many causes, but crypto isnt one

These proposed new rules are separate from the European Parliaments impending Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) bill, which is set to come into effect in 2024, a proposed set of rules and guidelines aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency market in Europe.

Liam Murphy, managing director of EMEA at Wachsman, tells Cointelegraph that the AML-CFT bill adopted on March 28 is focused on approving stricter rules to close gaps in combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the evasion of sanctions in the European Union.

Murphy added that he was also looking for more clarity on whether cryptocurrency transaction limits only apply to commercial transactions and not to transfers between private individuals.

Given that Wachsman serves a number of cryptocurrency service providers as a communications firm, Murphy noted industry participants are becoming more cognizant that the sector could use regulation to meet its full potential.

Erwin Voloder, senior policy fellow at the European Blockchain Association, also spoke to Cointelegraph about the European Parliaments draft bills implications for cryptocurrency payments.

He highlighted that greater clarity over AML/CTF provisions is welcome but contended that a double standard is constantly applied to crypto payments.

Voloder said that MEPs had previously back-peddled on the need to go through a CASP for the KYC process under Article 59a due to being unnecessarily onerous, according to industry feedback:

What also remains difficult to gauge is how cryptocurrency services like decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and even decentralized autonomous organizations will be governed by potential new laws.

Voloder used an example considering that a DeFi platform may have an interface that is client-facing, but the actual economic activity takes place within the smart contract, which is abstracted and independent from the interface layer.

This suggests that there is a strategy forming at the margins of the industry that could bring liability and default reporting obligations to the DeFi space, including nonfungible tokens.

The AML-focused legislation brings crypto under its purview to tighten up commercial transactions across Europe. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency space is shining a broad spotlight on the recent failings of the traditional banking sector. What remains to be answered is which industry needs more oversight at this moment in time.

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From Bat-Signal to Bitcoin: Projecting Orange Pill on banks as EU drives crypto regulation - Cointelegraph