...logies are witnessing significant growth and offer plenty of opportunities, there is still much room for critical questions as to their legal status and characterization. **The UK takes a significant step to reduce the barriers to the adoption of crypto assets and smart contracts by determining their legal status.** The legal Statement published by the United Kingdom Jurisdiction Taskforce tack...
Path: Blog**The UK’s tax agency has recently issued a detailed description of how it regards crypto assets and how its owners might be taxed on their assets.** HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs), the branch of government in charge of tax collection and overseeing other aspects of the nation’s treasuries, stated that one of latest reports particularly aims to describe how persons owing digita...
Path: Blog...fluential political parties in Germany made a proposal of issuing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and the blockchain industry. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) published a statement on their website, which suggests strict overseeing of crypto assets by the European Union institutions. SDP’s position of Germany’s need of ‘comprehensive digital awakening’ is shared by such p...
Path: BlogThe country’s main goal is to stop the use of crypto assets in the illegal money transfer. In the latest Israeli media reports it is stated that cryptocurrency assets will now fail under strict anti-money laundering rules of Israel, which is another country’s step in their policy of tightening the grip around unlawful crypto activities under its jurisdiction. According to the article by ...
Path: Blog...eans which allow for the exercise of control in crypto-assets; • Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), Security Token Offerings (STO), Initial Exchange Offerings (IEO), Initial Dex Offerings (IDO); • All initial offerings, offerings and/or sale of crypto assets; • Participation and/or provision of financial services related to the distribution, offering and/or sale of crypto assets. Such fi...
Path: Blog...s every digital currency trading platform to be registered with them. This restriction, same as under the current legislation if a platform operator is really set to operate fully off the regulatory scope it can do so by ensuring that its traded crypto assets are not within the legal definition of a security. The Hong Kong governmental institutions will introduce new licensing measures unde...
Path: Blog...yor economies. For example, Nigeria has Africa’s largest GDP, of more of $400bn. In September the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria announced that it will be regulating the trade of digital currencies in the country and clearly defined crypto assets as securities. Such clarity leads to faster innovation and more investments. Also, Switzerland, a known store of value for the world...
Path: Blog...pto dealers with prison terms and hefty fines. The authority believed that the adoption of previous law version would only create an “uncontrolled black market”. In contrast the Ministry of Economy proposed mechanisms like imposing new rules for crypto assets’ issuance and transactions, as well as to bring operators like exchanges and custodians under the government’s supervision. Altho...
Path: Blog...the future. Considering that, last week South Africa’s Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG), whose members include the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and the National Treasury, announced that crypto assets and the various activities associated with this innovation can no longer remain outside of the regulatory perimeter and clear policy sta...
Path: Blog... and fiat reserves. As part of the of the enforced policies, the new regulations place cryptocurrency asset derivatives transactions under the FSA’s jurisdiction. Additionally, the updated regulations have refined terminologies, calling them “crypto assets” instead of “virtual currencies” or “cryptocurrencies”. Another important amendment added to the regulations is the legal d...
Path: Blog...ior to this, Starbucks has already brought up plans on crypto payments, however, the process was halted. Also, Bakkt has faced various challenges including a slow setup and delays in project launches. Although this time, the giant coffee company and crypto assets exchange company have every chance to realize the project. Admitting that integrating Bitcoin in the daily activities sounds cool, th...
Path: Blog...mprised of South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), National Treasury (NT), the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), released a clarification paper on crypto assets this week.** The SARB is very careful when it comes to comprehensive regulations for the crypto sector, as it presumes that any omiss...
Path: Blog...ght as early as on November 1st. Russia’s customized approach will facilitate crypto handling for companies, traders, investors and other participants of the digital sphere. As the three-tier regulation provides separate rules for each type of crypto assets, it will be easier to clarify the right law and remain compliant. Under the three-tier regulation, cryptocurrencies are differenti...
Path: Blog...y framework for managers controlling virtual asset portfolios.** New terms and conditions released by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) have emerged in the light of increasing concerns about the risks associated with investing in crypto assets. Regulatory standards for virtual asset fund managers provide detailed guidance on risk management, segregation of assets, custodianship...
Path: Blog... under the Income Tax Act with regard to section RD 3. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) states that released rules applies to salaries and wages paid up in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or other. An employee can receive salary in crypto assets as long as payments are made regularly, the amount is fixed and employment agreement is in place. As you may know, cryptocurrencies ...
Path: Blog...y released guidelines was previously already propositioned in a consultation paper CP19, released in January. As it may be expected, the final guidelines do not significantly change the regulatory ground, instead these specify when certain types of crypto assets fall under existing categories. In these guidelines, the FCA determined main cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether as “exchang...
Path: Blog...Based on the new AML (Anti-Money Laundering) regulations that will come into effect, crypto companies working in Germany will be required to apply BaFin for the license by the end of 2019. According to the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (AMD 5) crypto assets will be classified as "financial instruments". This wide-range definition of financial instruments covers not just cryptocurrencies but ...
Path: Blog...for retail consumers "who cannot reliably assess the value and risks of derivatives or ETNs that reference certain cryptoassets (crypto-derivatives)." The FCA’s decision was made on the grounds of numerous factors, in particular: (I) underlying crypto assets have "no reliable basis for valuation,"; (II) the possibility of "market abuse and financial crime" for these type of assets in secondar...
Path: Blog...verage of 20:1 on traditional currencies. In case of digital assets trading, no leverage will be available to these clients. In addition to the above, the regulator suggested a prohibition of marketing, distribution, and sale of leveraged CFDs on crypto assets to retail clients. CLIENT PROTECTION According to the Head of CySEC, Demetra Kalogerou, the standards in the sphere of marketing...
Path: Blog... the fintech community on how regulatory requirements can be developed for cryptocurrency platforms. The regulators highlighted their main concerns at the beginning of the document: ***"Although DLT may provide benefits, global incidents point to crypto assets having heightened risks related to loss and theft as compared to other assets."*** If the framework is approved, it will probably cau...
Path: Blog...ate of as little as 10% and short-term capital gains at a rate of 15%. In fact, the Indian government is looking at crypto gains similar to gambling and lottery earnings, where it levies a flat 30 percent tax rate. “The taxation of profit from crypto assets at 30% may not receive equal appreciation from all the stakeholders. The higher taxes may discourage investors from choosing crypto as a...
Path: Blog