Eastern European nations have been following closely regulatory developments in the West to better understand where the wind is blowing before addressing the challenges presented by cryptocurrencies. This strategy has proved fruitless, however, as developed western countries, and international organizations, have not been able to come up with a unified approach towards regulating the crypto space. The weightlessness goes on.
Russia Postpones Crypto Regulation
The adoption of the legislation meant to regulate the crypto industry in Russia has been delayed, despite President Putin’s July deadline for the legal framework. In the past weeks, Russian outlets have quoted officials expressing concerns that the draft laws introduced in the State Duma in March won’t be approved during the spring session. The three bills adopted on first reading in May were expected to pass a second vote before the parliament’s summer break.
According to Elina Sidorenko, head of the interdepartmental group assessing the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, the laws will be finalized after the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) develops its standards in the field, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. The news that the legislation will be postponed until the fall was confirmed by the chairman of the parliamentary Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov, who was quoted by RIA Novosti saying:
"We don’t have time during the spring session […]. The technology is rather complicated, it is largely transboundary. So, taking into account its characteristics, we wouldn’t like to write down norms that wouldn’t work. The documents will be ready by early fall. We expect the second and third reading in September."
“All this is just new for us and requires deep immersion into the features of this new technology and these new tools. Accordingly, time is needed to produce competent legal documents,” the Russian lawmaker added. As a result, the legal status of cryptocurrencies, mining, and crowdfunding in Russia remains undetermined.
Bulgaria’s Financial Regulator to Monitor the Crypto Sector
Bulgaria, one of those EU member-states that await a pan-European decision on cryptocurrencies, has not made any significant progress towards regulating the crypto space, if we don’t count a clarification notice on crypto taxation issued by the National Revenue Service some time ago. However, the recent activity in Brussels, including the adoption of the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive which entered into force last week, has provided enough stimulus for authorities in Sofia to do something.
The Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) adopted a “Strategy to Monitor Financial Technologies (Fintech) in the Non-Banking Financial Sector” (2018 – 2020). The document provides basic definitions of terms like crypto-assets, virtual currency, smart contract, blockchain technology, initial coin offering, and other.
The paper also calls for defining the requirements for a licensing or registration regime for companies offering “financially innovative products, services, and technologies,” and analyzes the need for regulations governing the outsourcing activities in the industry. The strategy speaks about setting up innovation hubs and sandboxes, as well as introducing mechanisms to manage the risks arising from innovations in the nonbanking sector.
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https://news.bitcoin.com/eastern-europe-regulation-postponed-tax-abandoned-banks-enlightened/
