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Crypto regulation in the EU and the EEA

Crypto regulation in Eastern Europe

Crypto regulation in the UK

Crypto regulation in Switzerland

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Europe is a place of rich cultural and economic diversity, and there are virtually as many attitudes towards the blockchain as there are countries. Some general tendencies can be deduced though. 



The European Union clearly put the cryptoassets issue on the table with its 5th amendment to the AML directive, also known as AMLD5. The 27 member states therefore have to transcribe its approach within their legislatures and require crypto service providers to comply with the AML standards used within the financial sector.



Other than AMLD5 compliance, each EU country positions itself differently towards cryptoassets, with overall good intentions to set up a regulatory framework and encourage the blockchain industry development without compromising investor protection. Malta and France are notably among the countries with the most precise crypto-focused regulation, while Germany is creating a rather favourable environment for the crypto finance, authorizing its banks to act a crypto custodians. A number of smaller countries, like Estonia, Liechtenstein or Luxembourg, are also looking for an opportunity to attract innovation and set crypto-friendly conditions. 



Beyond the EU, Switzerland is it on its way to become a world leader in the blockchain sector, incorporating crypto notions within the existing legal framework and encouraging blockchain-related companies to settle in the country. As to the UK, it has adopted a rather lenient approach, with only minimal restrictions concerning cryptoasset business. 



In the Eastern Europe, the crypto attitude varies strongly, from the overall hostile Russia to the enthusiastic Ukraine or the crypto-excited Belarus.

Crypto regulation in Europe

Crypto regulation in the US

Crypto regulation in Canada

Crypto regulation in Latin America

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Cryptocurrencies have come into usage on both American continents, although from somewhat different perspectives. America, and USA in particular, harbor numerous companies developing blockchain technology and crypto finance. As to Latin America, its population is growing accustomed to using cryptocurrencies in everyday life, prompted notably by the deficiencies of their national currencies. It is also home for a large unbanked or underbanked population - up to 50% according to some researches, making crypto adoption all more widespread. 



It comes as no surprise that the regulation is more finance-oriented in the North. The decisions of the US federal agencies dealing with crypto, such as SEC and CFTC, have an impact over the financial aspect of the crypto world, and they are followed with attention. The country still lacks a global approach though, and regulatory gaps are sometimes filled in on the state level.



Canadian regulation looks somewhat like a more crypto-friendlier American one, combining investor-protection measures with a certain financial openness. 



In Latin America only Mexico has specifically defined cryptoassets, other countries either broadly considering them goods, or just simply banning them, like Bolivia and Ecuador. The region is also known for experimenting with state-issued digital currencies: the attempt failed by Ecuador, ongoing in Venezuela and planned by Eastern Caribbean islands.



Although many countries apply AML regulations to companies involved into crypto transactions, they are often considered too lax, and some researchers estimate that Latin American crypto exchanges contribute to money laundering problem.

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Blockchain is a recent invention. It is still in early stages of its development, and yet a burgeoning new blockchain-related industry is already emerging. Improving the technology, finding new use cases, developing the ecosystem… and of course looking to change the world are some of these new endeavors.



This section is dedicated to exploring different facets of the blockchain and bringing answers to an array of questions one might have - from “Why do we need it” to “How does it work” or “What is it used for”. The structure of Explore descending from general concepts to specific notions, you are welcome to choose your own path according to your interests and go down the rabbit hole. 



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<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-philosophy" class="ek-link">Blockchain philosophy</a></h2>



Why are crypto enthusiasts so enthusiastic? Blockchain is not a trivial technology, but the one that has a potential to change the very way our societies operate. Every organization and every community rely on trusted third parties, responsible for storing and managing data, with all the related risks . Replacing these trusted third parties with a decentralized data handling mechanism would eliminate much of the system’s deficiencies, and that’s exactly what blockchain does. 



<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/bitcoin" class="ek-link">Bitcoin</a></h2>



The very first implementation of the blockchain, Bitcoin was created to solve the deficiencies of the monetary system and replace the so-called fiat money (dependent on Central Banks) with cryptocurrency, a completely independent alternative that runs on a decentralized peer-to-peer network.&nbsp; 



<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-fundamentals" class="ek-link">Blockchain fundamentals</a></h2>



A blockchain is a collection of technologies and methods that allow gathering data into a ledger, which is stored and updated by the network’s participants (which anyone can become). Data handling is its main role, although it also allows embedding more complex programs and running them in a decentralized way.&nbsp; 



<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-in-practice" class="ek-link">Blockchain in practice</a></h2>



Most blockchain encounters today are about cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin and many others that have appeared since. However the understanding of the technology becoming increasingly subtle, other blockchain real-world use cases appear, notably with the development of decentralized applications, or Dapps. A developed ecosystem makes these functionalities readily available and opens up previously restricted-access industries, such as finance.&nbsp;&nbsp; 



<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-regulation" class="ek-link">Crypto regulation</a></h2>



Blockchain and its products are becoming an increasingly important part of our lives and our economies, which inevitably attracts the regulators’ attention. This is not a bad thing, though, for the right laws can support the technology and protect its users against related scams. Depending on a country however the attitude varies greatly, from progressive to autocratic. 



<h2>Beginner’s path </h2>



If you do not yet have a clear idea of what it is you would like to explore, let us suggest you a suite of 8 articles that will smoothly introduce you to the world of cryptoassets and Bitcoin in particular: it will help you to understand what it is used for, how it works and some necessary tools allowing to buy some of it.



<a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-philosophy" class="ek-link">Blockchain philosophy</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/bitcoin" class="ek-link">Bitcoin</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/how-does-bitcoin-work" class="ek-link">How does Bitcoin work</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/bitcoin-mechanism " class="ek-link">Bitcoin mechanism</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-in-practice" class="ek-link">Blockchain in practice</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/blockhain-ecosystem" class="ek-link">Blockchain ecosystem</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-wallets" class="ek-link">Crypto wallets</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-exchanges " class="ek-link">Crypto exchanges</a>

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Do cryptoassets have a legal status? What is the politics of financial regulators or tax services? Many countries start tackling this issue, each in its own way.



Some purists of decentralization may find it illogical to regulate a self-sustaining organization without a head, like Bitcoin. At the end of the day, cryptoassets were created in order to redeem independence from trusted third parties. However, the truth is that even highly decentralized and independent assets like Bitcoin need an anchor point within the regulated societies we live in. Thus, an exchange that allows buying bitcoins with dollars, or a company raising funds through an 
 ICO 
 Initial Coin Offering, a fundraising method using tokens
 would inevitably enter the regulatory field. Moreover, for the blockchain industry to grow legal certainty and enable customer protection rules are necessary.



New technologies have always been a source of confusion for the regulation, though. It is even truer now, when blockchain and decentralized technologies threaten to change the very structure of our society and even undermine some widely-accepted monopolies, such as money emission. Hence it has become necessary for legislative, regulatory and even judiciary bodies to weigh in on exactly what a cryptoasset is, how it is related to the legal concepts of property, money and taxes, and how governments should deal with it.&nbsp;



Most countries do not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender and stress that money-issuing monopoly belongs to Central Banks. Some countries, like France or Mexico, go further and give a legal definition to cryptoassets within a specific law. The majority, however, leaves the definition and the basic rules regarding cryptoassets to the specific government agencies regulating different areas of law, such as property rights, securities law, derivatives trading, taxation, AML...etc.



<h2>Cryptoassets within different areas of law</h2>



<h3>Finance</h3>



Financial regulators are numerous to have paid attention to security tokens and their ICOs, mostly thanks to their surge of in 2017. That period showed the practical advantages of an ICO vs a traditional IPO, however it also witnessed a big number of scams, urging the regulators around the world to issue ICO-precising notes. In most of the countries now ICOs are examined by the local financial authority and if tokens are considered securities, the ICOs must comply with the same securities law as IPOs. Some countries, however, go much further and ban the ICOs altogether, like did China.



<h3>
 KYC
 Know Your Customer
 and 
 AML 
 Anti-Money Laundering
 </h3>



The authorities in charge of fighting money laundering often consider cryptocurrencies as money and compel cryptocurrency service providers, such as exchanges or custodies, to comply with KYC and reporting obligations. Many countries use or intend to use the 
 FATF 
 Financial Action Task Force
 guidance from July 2019 as a standard in AML applied to cryptoassets. The intergovernmental organization notably recommends giving crypto service providers the same KYC and reporting obligations as financial intermediaries and set the transaction threshold equivalent of $1000, above which crypto service providers should disclose its details. In practice, this threshold is rarely used and every country sets its own reporting criteria.



<h3>Taxes </h3>



Eager to collect taxes, most Revenue Services precise the category to which the cryptoassets belong tax-wise (in the absence of a special definition they are often considered goods) and whether the gains from selling or exchanging crypto are taxable. Most countries now assimilate profits from crypto trading/investing as capital gains and tax them accordingly. Cryptocurrency obtained through mining is generally considered income and is subject to taxes. VAT, on the other hand, is usually not applicable to cryptoassets.



<h2>Crypto-hostile countries</h2>



There are also countries that perceive cryptocurrencies more as a treat than an opportunity and ban all activities involving them. Crypto is thus illegal in countries including Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Others preclude financial institutions from facilitating crypto transactions (notably China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Iran).&nbsp;However, regulatory landscape changes quickly, and a country once damning crypto might find itself embracing it the day after. It is also worth mentioning that these bans rarely impede the everyday usage of crypto thanks to its decentralized nature. 



<h2></h2>



Despite notable progress in some countries, in general legal coverage of crypto and blockchain-related matter is still insufficient throughout the world. However, the technology and its adoption moving quickly, numerous countries have expressed their intention to address the issue with custom-made laws.&nbsp;&nbsp;