Most Important Crypto Legal Updates of January 2020

2020 has been going on for only one month now, but cryptocurrencies have already experienced massive changes in different countries. This article will be dedicated to talking about at least three of them.

Singapore updates crypto regulation

New legislation targeted towards encompassing the crypto industry has finally been released in Singapore. The new law dictates that any foreign crypto company willing to operate from Singapore and provide services on crypto products will now have the opportunity to do so with an official license.

Services that are affected by the regulation include but are not limited to trading, purchasing and selling crypto assets and offering other mediator services. It’s believed that the legislation is a part of a larger plan to build upon the already existing Payment Services Act.

Others believe that the regulation will be placed in order to better control and understand the different parts of the crypto market. For example, Singapore has been very involved with Bitcoin trading robots. Things such as the Bitcoin Evolution app have been trying to enter the market for months now with very little success (unless they avoid the government completely).

With the new legislation, these apps and services will be able to benefit the hectic Singaporean lifestyle, thus having the potential of becoming a daily tool for traders. However, it’s likely for the regulator to be extra careful about these features especially.

Iran licenses 1000 crypto miners

The government of Iran also decided that acquiring a license to mine cryptocurrencies should not be so hard in the country considering just how many people are ready to lunge at the opportunity.

The government has over 1000 crypto mining companies licenses in order to start operations right away. Some would say that this is a method to expand the already helpful crypto industry in the country, while others would say that it’s a desperate stunt to stay afloat during these challenging times with the United States.

Crypto regulation commences in the EU

As mandated by the 5th Anti Money Laundering Directive, all EU member states have started regulating cryptocurrencies within their borders of jurisdiction. Companies located in the EU are now required to deliver accurate information on who they serve, how they transact their assets and how often they do so.

This is designed to avoid any additional cryptocurrency scams from occurring in the region and hopefully finding the funds that had already been stolen in the past. The Directive was almost universally approved by EU member states back in December 2019 and had been in preparation for much longer before that.

Besides this 5th AMLD, the European Securities and Markets Authority has also mentioned that cryptocurrencies will be their primary focus during 2020-22, which indicates that the regulator could bring trial legislation within the first half of its plan and later transition it into permanent law.

Image courtesy of Newconomy