Swedish Public Rejects World’s First eKrona Digital Currency
Bitcoin is king in 2017, but Sweden’s unpopular plan to create its pioneering digital currency ‘eKrona’ shows public understanding still has a long way to go. Two-Thirds Know Bitcoin, 10% Want eKrona. Central Bank plans in November last year to launch the so-called eKrona in the country would have made Sweden the world’s first country to launch a national digital currency. When the public was asked about it, however, their response was far from enthusiastic. An official survey in December by research firm Sifo found less than 10% of people supported having eKrona available in addition to....
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Sweden's plans to introduce eKrona may get delayed as more than 90 percent of the population is not ready for it. Sweden’s intention to introduce an electronic version of its legal tender (eKrona) is not quite popular among its citizens. A recent survey conducted by the Swedish company, SIFO shows that at least 50 percent of the population is against the country’s central bank introducing electronic currency to complement cash. The decision to introduce eKrona was announced last month by the deputy governor of Riksbank — the Central Bank of Sweden. According to earlier reports, the falling....
It has been known recently in the news that the Swedish government wants to add VAT on Bitcoin trading after receiving a request by a Swedish man trying to establish a Swedish Bitcoin exchange (you can read the story here in Norwegian). The man that contacted the Swedish government is very dissatisfied with their answer and tries to combat their views on Bitcoin trading. He believes that if Sweden enables VAT on Bitcoin trading, it will become useless as a currency. The Swedish government explains that legal currencies are excepted VAT on trading, however they do not see Bitcoin as a legal....
The Swedish Tax Agency is reportedly set to reject bitcoin as a currency, treating it tax-wise as an asset, like a rare artwork, or other valuable like an antique. "Currencies are traditionally tied to a central bank or a geographic area," said Olof Wallin, an official at the country's tax agency. Such a classification would allow the Swedish tax man to charge capital gains taxes on transactions made using the digital currency, which could certainly come as not-so-good news to enthusiasts. Tax authorities are also looking into how bitcoin miners will be classified. A possibility is that....
Sweden’s central bank is reportedly considering the issuance of its own digital currency, ekrona, in an effort to address the significant decline of the use of cash in the country. First revealed in a Financial Times report, Sweden’s Riksbank could introduce and issue its own digital currency before the turn of the decade. As the report reveals, Sweden has seen a rapid decline of the use of physical cash – both coins and notes – in recent times. Circulation has dropped by 40% since 2009, leaving Riksbank little choice but to come up with an alternative solution. A large number of Swedes....
Riksbank Governor Stevan Ingves sees a Swedish digital currency as an imperative for the central bank.