Italy’s Central Bank Addresses ECB, Clarifies Bitcoin’s Legal Status
Italy's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), an organ of the Central Bank in charge of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, issued a statement warning digital currency businesses to stay vigilant regarding suspicious activities due to the lack of AML/KYC requirements for Italian companies. In light of previous statements issued by the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Banking Authority (EBA), and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the FIU made a public announcement on February 2, emphasizing on the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing that are facing....
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The Central Bank of Italy (Banca d'Italia) is that country's first governmental authority to issue a statement on virtual currencies. It recently published three directives: Warnings on use of virtual currencies (30 Jan 2015). Notice on virtual currencies (30 Jan 2015). Notice of Central Authority for Reporting on virtual currencies (2nd Feb 2015). The "Notice About the use of virtual currencies" (published on the Supervisory Bulletin No. 1, January 2015) is a summary of guidance previously issued by the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Banking Authority (EBA), and the Financial....
Cryptocurrency is currently a gray area in India. It is neither legal nor illegal. A parliament member, India’s finance secretary, and the minister of finance have recently clarified the legal status of cryptocurrency in India. Legal Status of Crypto in India Following the finance minister’s announcement to tax cryptocurrency income, the question of whether crypto is now legal or legitimate in India has come up repeatedly. Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad, a member of Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of parliament, reportedly explained Saturday that....
In the end, this is still positive news coming out of Russia. An official acknowledgment of discussions taking place is better than nothing. A few days ago, news broke of Russia slowly taking a more positive stance toward bitcoin. It even seems bitcoin may gain legal status in the country. However, one of Russia’s central bankers is not convinced the outcome will be so positive. Legal recognition of cryptocurrency is not guaranteed, nor should anyone think otherwise. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are well aware Russia will not embrace bitcoin all of a sudden. It is good to see the central....
Ukraine's local chapter of the Bitcoin Foundation has spoken out against a recent statement by the central bank concerning the legal status of bitcoin in the country. In a document issued last month, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) says it considers bitcoin "a money substitute that has no real value, and cannot be used by individuals and legal entities in Ukraine as a mean of payment". The central bank continues that bitcoin is a "high risk factor" in financial transactions and that the institution has no responsibility for transactions made with the use of cryptocurrency and any....
After the well-known crypto crackdown launched by the Chinese government four years ago, it seems there is now a change in the tone from the country’s central bank. At least that’s what has been suggested recently by the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). Central Bank Clarifies Its Regulatory Framework on Cryptos Will Remain Unchanged During a panel hosted by CNBC at the Boao Forum for Asia, Li Bo is now naming bitcoin (BTC) with the “investment alternative” term for the first time since the crackdown. However, he made some clarifications on....