Regulatory overview – Politicians argue about the status of cryptocurrencies…

Federal government against licensing ban for crypto providers

The EU institutions continue to debate the appropriate handling of cryptocurrencies. The EU Parliament submitted a number of proposals. These will now be discussed in trilogue format. In addition to the Parliament and the Commission, the European Council, which also includes representatives of the Federal Government, is also involved.

In a reply to the Blockchain and FinTech spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Frank Schäffler, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) has now indicated that the Federal Government is skeptical about individual proposals from the EU Parliament. Specifically, it is about a planned ban on licensing crypto service providers who violate EU rules.

Such a ban is planned as an instrument to protect against money laundering and terrorist financing. However, the federal government states “a number of open questions.” A planned population register for unauthorized crypto providers is also met with distrust in Berlin. The EU Commission had previously taken a stand against the approval ban.

US Senators: Altcoins are securities

Across the Atlantic, President Joe Biden decreed the creation of a set of rules for the crypto space back in March. Since then, politicians in Washington have been discussing the legal status of digital currencies. A legislative proposal by crypto-friendly Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cyntia Lummis provides new material for this dispute.

The two introduced him to the US Senate on June 7th. Even if the US upper house rejects the proposal, it is striking that Gillibrand and Lummis adopt the controversial assessment of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Most altcoins would therefore be unregistered securities. Only BTC and ETH could be sure of being recognized as goods. If this assessment prevails, many altcoin publishers face hefty fines.

SEC investigates Binance and Terra

As Washington wrestles over the status of cryptocurrencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the BNB token of the world’s largest BTC exchange last week binance. The accusation: BNB is an unregistered security. Investors are said to have been approached in 2017 with expectations of returns that are tied to the growth of the company.

Since the purchase of the token is therefore considered an investment in binance has been marketed, it is a security according to the SEC. The SEC has a number of such cases, but BNB is the fifth largest token in the crypto market with a market cap of $46 billion. Simultaneously raised Reuters also serious allegations against Binance: The BTC exchange is said to have served as a money laundering paradise for years.

Meanwhile, the SEC also launched investigations into Do Kwon, CEO of Terra (LUNA). Unlike in South Korea, however, the Americans are not concerned with the sensational crash of the stablecoin. Instead, the SEC suspects that the tokens of the DeFi platform Mirror Protocoll are securities. Meanwhile, CEO Do Kwon ignored a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigations therefore started in 2021.

Russia wants to ban crypto payments domestically

With tiger leaps, Russia is also working on the framework conditions for a crypto ecosystem. In the past few weeks, voices from the country, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, have even suggested the approval of BTC and Co. as a means of payment for goods and services.

Meanwhile, Moscow does not want to take at least this step, as a legislative proposal of June 7 proves. In it, Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma’s Financial Markets Committee, clearly wants to fix a ban on domestic crypto payments. With his proposal, Aksakov also wants to enshrine the concept of an “electronic platform” in the law. This means digital financial platforms such as crypto exchanges. In the future, these will be subject to the supervision of the central bank. At the same time, the State Duma is also deliberating on laws for a general set of crypto rules and for regulating crypto mining.

Uganda changes crypto course

A trend reversal can also be observed in the regulation of BTC and Co. in Uganda. Because so far, the government of the East African state has made crypto-skeptical statements. However, according to a release from a local law firm, the central bank of Uganda intends to test crypto projects within a regulatory sandbox in the future. Within the sandbox, FinTech companies are given the opportunity to test digital solutions for financial services.