The French government has moved to limit the anonymity of bitcoin users through rules that require 'distributors' of the virtual currency to verify the identity of account holders.
The new regulation, set out by the country's finance ministry in response to a report by its Tracfin money laundering unit, will come into effect at the end of the year.
The ministry has also changed its tax rules, following in the footsteps of the UK and US by making profits on bitcoin sales subject to capital gains taxes.
Separately, Finnish software house Koodilehto and quasi-national cryptocurrency FIMKrypto have teamed up to broadcast bitcoin transactions through national TV broadcast networks in real time.
A two month pilot will begin in September, enabling Finns to receive real time P2P network data for bitcoin and FIMKrypto transactions through any digital TV and custom software without the need of Internet or mobile network connection.
The partners say that the technology will be portable to other countries, making bitcoin less dependent on the public Internet and more resistant to attacks.