Georgia has made itself an attractive destination for cryptocurrency businesses by adopting a crypto legalization bill. Back in 2018, the crypto industry in Georgia was reported to be around 200,000. The recently adopted bill – to go into the parliament for the final nod – makes crypto businesses legal.
The inclusion of regulations for digital assets and cryptocurrencies is part of the wider financial policy update in country of Georgia that will bring it in consonance with the EU norms. The specific parts of the bill that will regulate crypto are divided into three bundles:
- Payment Service Directive – to regulate buying of crypto
- Capital Requirements Directive – for assessing requests for crypto licenses
- Virtual Asset Service Providers Directive – to regulate crypto exchanges and their interactions and user activities
After the final passage of the bill, crypto exchanges will find it easier to operate and use banking services. Among the major global players, Binance has been looking at opening a branch in Georgia. The Georgian Primer Minister Irakli Gharibashvili is reported to have met Ripple and FTX representatives, and these two players too are expected to set up entities in Georgia, as per Bitcoin.com.
These measures are meant to create freedom for crypto users and businesses, while ensuring that it is not used for money laundering or terrorist funding activities.
The syncing with EU directives is a first step for Georgia, whose government is aiming to make the country a “crypto hub” by 2025.
Ukraine
Another East European country that has adopted crypto is the war-ravaged Ukraine. The government here has been accepting donations to help it survive with a dedicated page –
Help Ukraine with crypto, don’t leave us alone with the enemy: https://donate.thedigital.gov.ua/
The donation page has raised over $60 million so far.
In March 2022, Ukraine officially made cryptocurrency legal with a bill signed by President Zelensky. The crypto market here will be regulated by the National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market.
Now banks can open accounts for crypto companies and exchanges in Ukraine. Exchanges will also get permits. The finance ministry too will make room to accommodate cryptocurrencies. Ukraine is expected to launch an NFT collection to remember the war.
Token mapping
In another continent, Australia is reported to have taken a big step towards regulating cryptocurrencies. Australia will the first country to do what is called “token mapping”.
“The Australian Taxation Office estimates that more than one million taxpayers have interacted with the crypto asset ecosystem since 2018,” – a media release issued with the Treasurer.
“Treasury will prioritise ‘token mapping’ work in 2022, which will help identify how crypto assets and related services should be regulated. This hasn’t been done anywhere else in the world, so it will make Australia leaders in this work.”
The regulators are first going to evaluate each cryptocurrency, and then group them based on their technical features. As popular users know, there can be several types of coins and tokens, with different proof of consensus mechanisms, governance features or price related features such as stable coins (again sub-divided into either algo based or backed by other stable assets).
Currently, bitcoin and other virtual currencies are considered property in Australia, which is also exploring the creation of a countrywide CBDC or central bank digital currency.
Sources:
https://cryptonewsland.com/ukraine-passes-crypto-bill-makes-virtual-assets-legal/
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