Understanding the legal landscape is of great importance to businesses seeking to enter new markets. Without an adequate grasp of regulations, companies may suffer financially or reputationally damage as a result of making poor business decisions.
Federal agencies have taken an inconsistent approach to cryptocurrency regulation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has prioritized investor protection by asserting that digital assets qualify as securities that must be subject to securities regulation laws.
Rules for ICOs
While a coin’s purpose can differ widely, the SEC has stated on numerous occasions that most Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) should be treated as securities offerings and courts have upheld this conclusion by applying the Howey test even when cofounders have no involvement with management or control of a project.
EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive included cryptocurrency-fiat exchanges within its money laundering regulations, mandating KYC/CDD on their users as well as meeting standard reporting obligations. Meanwhile in the US FINCEN has recently proposed new cryptocurrency regulations to make exchanges disclose more information on both their users and businesses.
Gibraltar has also implemented cryptocurrency regulations aimed at upholding market integrity, while other jurisdictions are actively exploring more cryptocurrency-specific regulations to help ensure investor protection while simultaneously stimulating innovation in emerging markets such as crypto. Within the EU alone, a working group has begun setting market standards for crypto trading.
Rules for Exchanges
Detail rules governing cryptocurrency exchanges could help protect investors against fraud and manipulation while also creating an orderly environment in which investors can purchase and sell coins safely and legally. More stringent rules could limit liquidity.
As cryptocurrency use continues to expand, government bodies are working towards providing greater clarity for this rapidly emerging industry. Recently, Canada introduced regulations equating exchanges to money services businesses and mandating that they report all transactions.
Other countries, like the US, have taken a more flexible approach by applying the Howey test to determine whether digital assets qualify as securities. No matter its exact legal definition of cryptocurrency, regulators still can enforce anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) rules, cybersecurity protocols, consumer protection laws and mandatory registration of exchanges/ICOs to verify they adhere to similar disclosure standards as traditional financial institutions.
Rules for Lending
As crypto assets gain widespread adoption, more financial institutions may seek to leverage them, increasing their market risk exposure and necessitating them holding more liquid assets as capital reserves. As a result, such firms will likely face pressure for applying the “same activity, same risk, same regulation” principle across their operations.
An effective regulatory framework that supports innovation while protecting investors and maintaining market integrity would provide an ideal solution to these issues. This may involve creating regulatory sandboxes that allow experimentation with real-world results being tested before being implemented in full-scale experiments; or offering clear tax guidelines for lending activities which help remove uncertainty for both investors and market participants alike.
In the US, for instance, security interests in cryptocurrency assets are governed by Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulations on personal property, while FinCEN requires those lending crypto assets register with it and adhere to KYC/AML rules in order to help detect money laundering and terrorist financing activities.
Rules for Investors
Understanding how digital assets are treated across jurisdictions is of utmost importance. Some governments take more progressive approaches towards cryptocurrency regulation while others adopt more cautious regulations.
The SEC has taken an aggressive stance, asserting that all crypto offerings should be classified as securities subject to the Howey test and subjected to registration with them and anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations. This would force initial coin offerings (ICOs) and VASPs alike to comply with AML/CFT obligations and register with them as soon as possible.
CFTC believes that certain digital assets should be classified as commodities, making them subject to its regulatory jurisdiction over market manipulation matters. This classification could have serious ramifications since CFTC’s regulatory powers are more limited when dealing with commodities than with securities trading; furthermore, its tax implications could impact whether investors must pay taxes on their crypto gains – an issue currently under discussion among lawmakers and experts alike. To promote innovation while upholding investor protections and market integrity is the ideal regulatory framework.