Seychelles approves landmark crypto bill to regulate virtual assets sector

[Yamane_Keto]

Seychelles, long regarded as a crypto-friendly jurisdiction, is moving to rein in the digital asset industry within its borders as consumer complaints about crypto-related losses continue to rise.

The country’s National Assembly has unanimously approved a new Virtual Assets Bill presented by Finance Minister Naadir Hassan. The legislation, reported by Seychelles News Agency, aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework for regulating virtual asset service providers (VASPs) operating in Seychelles.

The details
Under the new framework, VASPs will be required to set up a company under either the Seychelles Companies Act or the International Business Companies Act.
Applicants must demonstrate a “substantial presence” in Seychelles, including having a resident director and an adequately staffed office.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been designated as the regulator responsible for implementing and enforcing the Virtual Assets Bill.
Key VASP activities that will require licensing include virtual asset exchanges, brokerage, investment services, and wallet providers.

https://www.mariblock.com/seychelles-approves-landmark-crypto-bill-to-regulate-virtual-assets-sector/

The Seychelles licenses have made it possible for many cryptocurrency exchanges to operate without requiring strict KYC requirements for users or at least not asking for any data unless you exceed the 1-10 BTC limit per day. If the law is passed, many cryptocurrency exchanges may close and if some clauses require the disclosure of all user data, these services may move to other countries or shut down.

[avikz]

Good news! In the Times of meme coins and fraud businesses, this bill was greatly needed. Crypto market is full of scammers and fraudsters. Many have used a Seychelles licence to get away after the crime. That's something the government needed to stop.

I don't think Seychelles will become a crypto hostile country with this new legislation. It's just that they are tightening their grip on illegal crypto programs without any physical existence.

[zasad@]

If an exchange does not comply with FATF regulations, that exchange will have problems in other jurisdictions.
Every day there will be fewer large exchanges that want to operate without KYC.
The wild west in the crypto world will soon be over, but the good news is that cryptocurrencies are with us for a long time now.

[pakhitheboss]

Good news! In the Times of meme coins and fraud businesses, this bill was greatly needed. Crypto market is full of scammers and fraudsters. Many have used a Seychelles licence to get away after the crime. That's something the government needed to stop.

This is troubling news, and I can't understand why you're so interested in meme coins. The investors who suffered losses are to blame for their desire to become millionaires quickly. Those who suffered losses are the ones who believed that it's easy to make money and become wealthy by following crypto trends. I do feel bad for them, but that doesn't mean that regulations are beneficial in a country that prioritizes privacy. If this bill is passed, it will require some cryptocurrency exchanges to verify their users' identities through KYC procedures.

I don't think Seychelles will become a crypto hostile country with this new legislation. It's just that they are tightening their grip on illegal crypto programs without any physical existence.

Why do you think that Seychelles will not become crypto-hostile? It seems that this law is designed for the country to comply with the orders from the United States. I don't understand why you believe that this law is being presented and that the bill will not be friendly to the cryptocurrency community. Experienced users of the forum can't comprehend how detrimental this law could be in a country that is known to support us, as we engage in anonymous discussions on the forum. Just imagine if the forum administrator revealed your identity and decided that you should be verified, given that we have already seen how he succumbed to stirring controversy due to pressure from an agency.

[YOSHIE]

Seychelles approves landmark crypto bill to regulate virtual assets sector

There are good points if you look at the bill, if you examine it legally.
Like the point quoted.

Applicants must demonstrate a “substantial presence” in Seychelles, including having a resident director and an adequately staffed office.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been designated as the regulator responsible for implementing and enforcing the Virtual Assets Bill.
Key VASP activities that will require licensing include virtual asset exchanges, brokerage, investment services, and wallet providers.

Considering that recently many crypto exchanges have had problems with users' crypto assets, with the new legal policy of the bill, I think Seychelles has an important role in controlling the exchange in the future in a professional and safe manner for its users.

What is certain is that with the policy of this new bill, there are definitely pros and cons, where rogue exchanges cannot operate and it is really the exchanges that have a license ("substantial presence" in Seychelles) that are safe, hope that the bill can be a good foundation for crypto users, without having to think about fraud and escape as has happened.

[avikz]

Good news! In the Times of meme coins and fraud businesses, this bill was greatly needed. Crypto market is full of scammers and fraudsters. Many have used a Seychelles licence to get away after the crime. That's something the government needed to stop.

This is troubling news, and I can't understand why you're so interested in meme coins. The investors who suffered losses are to blame for their desire to become millionaires quickly. Those who suffered losses are the ones who believed that it's easy to make money and become wealthy by following crypto trends. I do feel bad for them, but that doesn't mean that regulations are beneficial in a country that prioritizes privacy. If this bill is passed, it will require some cryptocurrency exchanges to verify their users' identities through KYC procedures.

I don't think Seychelles will become a crypto hostile country with this new legislation. It's just that they are tightening their grip on illegal crypto programs without any physical existence.

Why do you think that Seychelles will not become crypto-hostile? It seems that this law is designed for the country to comply with the orders from the United States. I don't understand why you believe that this law is being presented and that the bill will not be friendly to the cryptocurrency community. Experienced users of the forum can't comprehend how detrimental this law could be in a country that is known to support us, as we engage in anonymous discussions on the forum. Just imagine if the forum administrator revealed your identity and decided that you should be verified, given that we have already seen how he succumbed to stirring controversy due to pressure from an agency.

I don't disagree to your statements. A country where privacy used to get prioritised, will now require KYC from the users operating from their soil. I understand this is not desired by a large portion of the crypto community.

But if we really want to see a mainstream adoption of cryptos and also to eliminate the bad actors from the market, regulations are necessary. It helps to stop the flow of dirty money into this ecosystem.

But yes, you have your own points and I have mine.

[Yamane_Keto]

Seychelles approves landmark crypto bill to regulate virtual assets sector

There are good points if you look at the bill, if you examine it legally.
Like the point quoted.

Applicants must demonstrate a “substantial presence” in Seychelles, including having a resident director and an adequately staffed office.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been designated as the regulator responsible for implementing and enforcing the Virtual Assets Bill.
Key VASP activities that will require licensing include virtual asset exchanges, brokerage, investment services, and wallet providers.

I don't think this point will be a big problem for crypto exchanges, having a resident manager and an office with enough staff means paying more money and there will be companies specialized in providing such services. I think this particular item will contribute to tourism and opening more job opportunities in Seychelles more than it helps in reducing scam.

[Fiatless]

Good news! In the Times of meme coins and fraud businesses, this bill was greatly needed. Crypto market is full of scammers and fraudsters. Many have used a Seychelles licence to get away after the crime. That's something the government needed to stop.

I don't think Seychelles will become a crypto hostile country with this new legislation. It's just that they are tightening their grip on illegal crypto programs without any physical existence.

Scammers have a way of abusing privileges granted by some crypto-lenient nations. The government is taking the right step to protect its citizens from scammers by making this law. But these law shouldn't be very stringent because it could scare away investors. Besides making protective laws, there is also the need to promote crypto education in the East African country. This is because scammers can easily deceive ignorant people.

If an exchange does not comply with FATF regulations, that exchange will have problems in other jurisdictions.
Every day there will be fewer large exchanges that want to operate without KYC.
The wild west in the crypto world will soon be over, but the good news is that cryptocurrencies are with us for a long time now.

Some countries don't want to be included in the black or grey list of The Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Landing on this list can scare away investors as well as deprive the country of the privilege of accessing loans and grants from international organizations. This is why countries will do everything possible including enacting anti-crypto laws claiming to be combating money laundering. Many African countries are on FATF's grey list, Seychelles, which is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, doesn't want it to be included in the list.

I don't think this point will be a big problem for crypto exchanges, having a resident manager and an office with enough staff means paying more money and there will be companies specialized in providing such services. I think this particular item will contribute to tourism and opening more job opportunities in Seychelles more than it helps in reducing scam.

The government want to have people in the country that they can hold responsible if anything goes wrong. The resident managers serve as guarantors of the business in the country.

[Potato Chips]

I wouldn't be surprised since the direction we've been at calls for stricter kyc/aml policies. All the full fledged CEX I've been using or know have switched to mandatory kyc for instance.

But if there is truly a stricter kyc/aml policies in this new one. I gotta wonder how rigours the monitoring would be or perhaps it could just be a one time check for the sake of the papers. I guess only one way to know..

[TravelMug]

Isn't it this is what the start of crypto exchanges? I mean they don't require KYC until you reach a certain limit in trading. However, this is no longer the case, now they are mandated by world governing bodies to do KYC for all their customers.

So not sure how Seychelles though will implement this one. For sure they might attract a lot of old or new exchanges to move to their country and based their operations there. This is only one positive thing that I've seen. However, there could be pressures for them to have a mandatory KYC by FATF and other world financial watchdogs.