Global trend towards legalization of crypto – regulatory overview

Russia: BTC debate closed?

On February 15 it looked loud Bloomberg It still looks as if Russia’s Ministry of Finance and the Russian Central Bank have not reached a compromise in the debate about the regulation of BTC. Because while the government agency pushed for a more permissive regulatory framework, the central bank insisted on a blanket ban on BTC. However, an agreement appears to have been reached by February 18, the deadline set personally by President Putin. Because the Ministry of Finance published one note to start the process for “establishing a legal and regulatory framework for legal activities related to transactions and issuance of digital currencies.” Interested persons are invited to express their opinions until March 18th. According to media reports, the draft law itself is to be published in the next three weeks. Last week, the responsible ministry also drew up a series of proposals for the appropriate regulation of crypto mining.

EU considers ban on anonymous BTC payments

In Western Europe, too, the regulatory debate continued last week. MEPs from several groups in the European Parliament tabled a draft crypto law on February 7th, which has been public since February 15th. The focus is on the well-known concern that BTC is a means of money laundering and terrorist financing. In order to prevent this, the authors of the draft law are calling for the valid rules of digital asset transactions to be suspended for crypto payments. While no identification was previously required for transactions under 1,000 euros, this could become mandatory for all payments with BTC and Co. in the future. According to EU parliamentarian Patrick Beyer (Pirate Party), anonymous payments would then only be possible “peer-to-peer between local wallets without third-party providers”. Beyer sharply criticized the draft law. A vote in one of the upcoming plenary sessions is considered likely.

USA: Broker regulation cleared

Across the Atlantic, Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Act has caused a lot of controversy in the BTC space. After all, it plans to levy transaction taxes on all “crypto brokers”. What a crypto broker is, remained open for a long time. Community representatives were therefore afraid that miners and other hardware providers would also be affected by the regulation. They often have no access to the transaction data that would be required for a tax return. According to media reports, however, there is now reason to give the all-clear. Because the US Treasury Department has no plans to include miners, stakers and wallet providers under the broker definition.

India’s central bank remains crypto skeptical

Similar to Russia, opinions on cryptocurrencies also differ in India. Because while the government recently cleared the way for the legalization of BTC and Co., the Indian central bank continues to oppose it. T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of India, summarily declared all cryptocurrencies to be pyramid schemes at a banking conference on February 15. If legalized, he warned of disastrous consequences for the Indian financial system.

Ukraine legalizes BTC

So while the legalization debate in India is still ongoing, it came to an end in Ukraine. Because on Thursday, February 17, the Verkhovna Rada in Kiev with a majority of 272 votes passed a law on the legalization of cryptocurrencies. The establishment of a regulated market for BTC and Co. in Ukraine is thus possible. Regulation is the responsibility of the country’s stock exchange supervisory authority. Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation, spoke of an “additional opportunity for business development in our country.”

United Arab Emirates launch crypto initiative

BTC regulation is moving forward in the United Arab Emirates. Because an anonymous source revealed Bloomberg that the country wants to create a regulatory framework for crypto service providers. By the end of March, the country would like to distribute licenses with which it wants to attract crypto companies operating worldwide. This step was preceded by a state risk assessment. The accompanying report spoke out in favor of appropriate regulation and against the ban on cryptocurrencies. The Emirates also want to create an ecosystem for mining.