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National Bank of Georgia to Regulate Country’s Crypto Sector

07/04/2022 by Idelto Editor

National Bank of Georgia to Regulate Country’s Crypto Sector

The National Bank of Georgia is taking steps to regulate the crypto market in the Southern Caucasus country, its governor revealed in a recent interview. While companies in the industry are to expect a licensing regime, financial institutions have already been banned from providing crypto-related services.

Central Bank of Georgia to Propose Cryptocurrency Regulations

Georgia’s monetary authority is planning to introduce rules for operations in the nation’s crypto space. The financial regulator has drafted new legislation to achieve this, the bank’s Governor Koba Gvenetadze told The Financial, a Georgian business news portal.

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has prepared the necessary amendments in accordance with the requirements of the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), the top official emphasized.

The bank is also receiving technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the development of the regulatory framework, Gvenetadze added. Quoted by the publication, he elaborated:

The draft legislative changes at this stage include registration and licensing, compliance testing and AML control requirements for crypto market players.

While the rules for these entities are still being finalized, Georgian authorities have already introduced measures limiting the exposure of traditional financial companies to decentralized crypto assets. They have been prohibited from providing digital currency exchange and transfer services, Gvenetadze remarked.

“Also, persons that carry out activities related to virtual assets should be classified by financial institutions as high-risk clients and should be subject to appropriate enhanced preventive measures,” the governor said.

Asked to provide an estimate of the current cryptocurrency turnover in the country, the head of the central bank noted that as the crypto sector is not regulated yet, Georgian authorities do not have recent and accurate data about its size.

According to a report published by Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (Moneyval) released in September 2020, the monthly crypto exchange transaction volume in Georgia was between 3.5 and 5 million Georgian lari (€1 to €1.5 million).

The regulatory push now comes after in October last year, the NBG announced it’s going to launch a digital version of the national fiat currency as early as 2022. The monetary policy regulator said it plans to employ the blockchain-based central bank digital currency (CBDC) to facilitate retail sales.

Do you expect Georgia to regulate its crypto space in the near future? Let us know in the comments section below.

Filed Under: amendments, Bank, Central Bank, crypto, crypto industry, crypto market, crypto space, Cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency, English, Georgia, Georgian, Governor, Legislation, licensing, national bank, NBG, News Bitcoin, registration, Regulation, Regulations

Ukraine’s Financial Stability Council Supports Crypto Regulatory Concept

21/07/2018 by Idelto Editor

Ukraine’s Financial Stability Council Supports Crypto Regulatory Concept

Ukraine has taken a positive step towards legalizing cryptocurrencies. A new regulatory concept, one that recognizes coins and tokens as financial instruments, has won support from the members of the country’s Financial Stability Council. The body includes representatives of the National Bank, the Finance Ministry and other government agencies.

Also read: Minsk Mulls Rules for Exchanges, Qiwi Awards Employees with Tokens

Ukraine Adopts Regulatory Concept for Cryptocurrencies

It’s been quite a while since Ukraine made any notable progress towards regulating its crypto sector. A new decision in Kiev, however, qualifies as an important development. The country’s Financial Stability Council has supported a concept to regulate crypto transactions. The body is composed of representatives from the National Bank of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance, the Deposit Guarantee Fund, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, and the National Financial Services Market Commission.

Ukraine’s Financial Stability Council Supports Crypto Regulatory ConceptThe news about the decision of the council was announced on social media by Timur Khromaev, head of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC). “This is an important first step in building a consensus among government agencies and financial regulators which confirms the readiness to work with the Verkhovna Rada and the crypto market on forming a legislative and a regulatory framework that will ensure transparency and quality of relations between investors and crypto market participants,” Khromaev said in a Facebook post.

The newly approved concept recognizes certain categories of cryptocurrencies and tokens as financial instruments. It also determines the roles and functions of government agencies, such as the National Bank, the Finance Ministry, the State Fiscal Service, the State Financial Monitoring Service, and the NSSMC, in regards to regulating the circulation of cryptos, licensing of participants in crypto transactions, and disclosure of information.

Cryptocurrencies Still Unregulated, Not Legal in Ukraine

The status of cryptocurrencies in Ukraine is still undetermined. Three bills designed to legalize and regulate them and the related economic activities have been filed in the Rada since October but no significant progress has been made towards their adoption. These are the laws “On the Circulation of Cryptocurrency in Ukraine”, “On Stimulating the Market of Cryptocurrencies and Their Derivatives”, and a supplementary draft addressing crypto taxation. The recently voted Currency Law did not mention cryptocurrencies at all.

Ukraine’s Financial Stability Council Supports Crypto Regulatory ConceptThe NSSMC, one of the regulators that would be responsible for overseeing the crypto industry, did not support the bills introduced in the Rada. At the time, the commission objected to the use of the term “cryptocurrency” in the legal texts, stating that it is a result of what it called “financial engineering” and not a currency. The National Bank, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission and the National Financial Services Market Commission did not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal means of payment or money surrogate.

Cryptocurrencies have been steadily gaining popularity in Ukraine, especially in the last couple of years. Local media claim that the country is among the top 10 by number of crypto users. According to some recent reports, the estimated daily crypto-hryvnia turnover on the three major Ukrainian exchanges reaches $1.9 – $2 million USD. The actual volume may be much higher, given the large number of small trading platforms and individuals offering exchange services.

Do you expect Ukraine to adopt comprehensive crypto regulations? Let us know in the comments section below.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Timur Khromaev (Facebook).


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The post Ukraine’s Financial Stability Council Supports Crypto Regulatory Concept appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Filed Under: commission, concept, crypto, Cryptocurrencies, cryptos, Economy & Regulation, English, finance ministry, financial instruments, Financial Stability Council, Kiev, N-Economy, national bank, News Bitcoin, NSSMC, Regulations, Regulators, Ukraine, ukrainian

Kazakhstan Preparing to Prohibit Crypto Trading and Mining, Says Central Bank

31/03/2018 by Idelto Editor

Kazakhstan Preparing to Prohibit Crypto Trading and Mining, Says Central Bank

The chairman of the central bank of Kazakhstan said that the bank has prepared legislation to prohibit the sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies in the country as well as any kind of crypto mining, citing several risks he sees.

Also read: Japan’s DMM Bitcoin Exchange Opens for Business With 7 Cryptocurrencies

National Bank’s Crackdown on Crypto

Kazakhstan Preparing to Prohibit Crypto Trading and Mining, Says Central BankThe chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Daniyar Akishev said on Friday that “Kazakhstan intends to prohibit the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies and any kind of mining of cryptocurrencies” in an interview with Ria Novosti.

The publication quoted the central banker stating:

In Kazakhstan, the National Bank is very conservative about this issue [cryptocurrency]. I welcome only rather stringent restrictions, that is, we want to prohibit the purchase and sale of the national currency for cryptocurrency. We want to prohibit the activity of exchanges on this segment and any kinds of mining.

Risks the Central Bank Sees

Akishev claims to see a lot of problems concerning cryptocurrencies, especially pertaining to the protection of customers’ rights.

Kazakhstan Preparing to Prohibit Crypto Trading and Mining, Says Central Bank
Daniyar Akishev.

He was quoted by the news outlet declaring his intention to “minimize the risks associated with the national market,” adding that “but for sure, not one central bank has full functionality to administer this market [cryptocurrency] in a cross-border market, so at the very least, we must stop this risk through the national currency.”

Another major risk, he described, “is the possibility of [using] cryptocurrency to commit illegal activities,” the publication noted, and quoted Akishev asserting, “Cryptocurrency is an ideal tool for money laundering and for avoiding taxation.” He noted that the central bank’s position on crypto “is supported by the majority of state bodies of Kazakhstan,” and was quoted by Ria Novosti saying:

We have prepared amendments to the legislation that should lead to this tightening.

In October of last year, Akishev said that the central bank proposed to restrict some activities relating to cryptocurrency in the country “to protect the public from speculative risks.” He said at the time, “we sent our proposals to the government, in which we suggest carrying out a series of tougher measures, including prohibiting the exchange of the national currency for cryptocurrencies, prohibiting the activities of some companies that generate cryptocurrencies and so on.”

Meanwhile, interest in cryptocurrency in the country has jumped 15-fold early this year compared to the previous year, according to Yandex. Citizens are also searching 10 times more for terms related to video cards, crypto mining, as well as how to mine.

What do you think of the central bank of Kazakhstan’s action? Let us know in the comments section below.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock.


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The post Kazakhstan Preparing to Prohibit Crypto Trading and Mining, Says Central Bank appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Filed Under: ban, Bitcoin, Central Bank, Crackdown, crypto, Cryptocurrencies, Daniyar Akishev, Digital Currency, English, Kazakhstan, Mining, Money Laundering, N-Economy, national bank, News Bitcoin, prohibit, purchase, sale, Taxation, trade, trading, Virtual Currency

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