Before we get to the main point of this article, which explains all about Georgia’s plan to adopt European crypto regulations to fight against money laundering, let us take a look at some key points in this article.
- Georgia is one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world, and they want to integrate their crypto regulations with corresponding rules in the European Union.
- The Georgian lawmakers have put together a new regulatory framework that targets cryptocurrency trading and digital business in the country.
- A draft bill has already been sent to the parliament, and according to the minister, the aim of this draft bill is to synchronize the local cryptocurrency laws with three significant European Union directives.
- According to ranking, Georgia is the fourth most crypto-friendly jurisdiction after three other countries as of July 2022, and they also provide 45 crypto-automated teller machines (ATMs).
Georgia aims to integrate European Crypto Standards: all you need to know
As stated above, Georgia is one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world due to some rankings. The country has decided to integrate its crypto rules and regulations with corresponding rules in the European Union. In other words, this crypto-friendly country is moving to adopt new crypto regulations in order to achieve its ambitions and goals of becoming a global crypto hub. Keep reading this article to know more about this.
Georgian lawmakers have put together a new regulatory framework concerning the adoption of new crypto standards. This regulatory framework targets cryptocurrency trading and digital business in the country, and this was announced by the Economic Minister in Georgia and the Prime Minister (Vice )– Levan Davitashvili. Their announcement stated everything the people needed to know about the new regulatory framework.
The Prime Minister (Vice) said that they had sent a draft bill to the parliament, and they are expecting the amendments to be passed in the autumn session – this was reported on Monday by a local news agency (Business Media Georgia). According to the ministers, the aim of this draft bill is to synchronize the country’s local cryptocurrency laws with three significant European Union directives, which are written in the next paragraph.
These directives include the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) law, the Payments Services Directive (PSD2), as well as the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD). The first written directive, which is the Virtual Asset Provider (VASP) law, strives to bring legal status to establishments that are involved in digital assets trading. Also, the new regulatory framework will put a stop to the use of cryptocurrencies for terrorist financing or money laundering.
It was reported that the Prime Minister (Vice) placed a lot of emphasis on the importance of integrating the financial legislation (Georgia) with the corresponding rules in the European Union. According to Levan Davitashvili, the Prime Minister (Vice), it is essential for Georgia to adopt the VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) rules because it will guarantee a sustainable regulation of the cryptocurrency industry. The above-written paragraph was noted by the report, and it seems like a great way to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing in the crypto world.
Georgia emerged as one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the whole world, so it is no surprise that the country has plans to become a crypto hub in the future. The latest regulatory framework that the Georgian lawmakers have put together is apparently just the tip of the iceberg, as Georgia’s goal is to become a crypto hub in the future. This ambition is in accordance with the Georgian government’s official development strategy for 2022 to 2025.
Forex conducted a recent study, and in that study, Georgia was categorized as number four in the list of crypto-friendly territories in the world, with Switzerland, the United States of America, and Hong Kong occupying the three spots as of July 2022. This is a pretty impressive ranking for Georgia, and it is no surprise as they are known for having a high density of crypto automated teller machines (ATMs). With these crypto ATMs, users can easily sell and buy crypto in exchange for cash – there is absolutely no need to go through a lot of stress to achieve this.
Georgia has 45 crypto automated teller machines presently – this information was gotten from CoinATMRadar, so it is possible that the number of crypto ATMs Georgia hosts has increased since that time of writing. The lawmakers in Georgia have been putting in a lot of work concerning the cryptocurrency legislation this year, 2022 (Kobe Gvenetadze, the Central Bank Governor, highlighted the lack of crypto regulation in Georgia in April).
The first reports on impending Georgia’s new crypto rules came as over ten thousand Russians ran off to Georgia. This was a result of the doubts about the economy and the western sanctions on Russia. For almost every Russian that arrived in Georgia, crypto became an essential tool for them to handle their finances despite the embargo on their debit and credit cards.
With all that is written above, I think we can say that Georgia’s aim to integrate their local cryptocurrency laws with European crypto standards is a great choice to fight against people using cryptocurrencies for money laundering and terrorist financing. It is also a significant step that Georgia has taken to become a crypto hub in the future.