Cryptocurrencies have been in our lives since 2009 and it seems that they will continue to take place increasingly. Developments regarding the legal status of
Bitcoin and
altcoins
, the cryptocurrency with the highest market capitalization, continue. In addition, despite being defined in various fields, there is still no commonality within the jurisdiction about whether cryptocurrencies are money, assets, products, property, or anything else. Moreover, the questions of whether it should be considered within free trade or strictly regulated cannot be clarified. However, the lack of a clear answer to these issues does not prevent governments in Europe from regulating the cryptocurrency market and implementing legal regulations that will determine behavior towards cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrencies are legally accepted in the EU, and countries that are members of the EU have differences in terms of standards and regulations. In terms of taxes, the 2015 European Court of Justice ruling that “Cryptocurrency exchanges should be exempt from value-added tax” is leading the way for many EU countries. With this decision, all European countries have adapted their regulatory standards to the recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force. 5. The entry into force of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive in January 2020 required cryptocurrency exchanges to be registered with financial regulators and customer wallet addresses to be transferred to them. Clearly, the EU is tightening cryptocurrency market regulations. The pandemic process, which has affected the whole world, has caused global economic instability, accelerated the development of the crypto industry in Europe and led to the acceptance of cryptocurrencies in some countries.
A clear definition of cryptocurrencies has not yet been made in France, and there is no case law on this in the judiciary. It is emphasized that this court decision in March 2020 regarding a lower court’s evaluation of Bitcoin as a currency could set an effective precedent.
The situation in Portugal is on a very different scale. The government has not remained indifferent to developments in the surrounding countries related to this area and has ensured the spread of cryptocurrencies through technological free zones. Alongside all this, it also approved a nationwide plan to promote digitalization in various areas.
Gibraltar is the first country to develop rules governing the activities of initial coin offerings. It is also becoming increasingly attractive for leading industrial companies with the introduction of a regulatory regime for blockchain firms in 2018. As a matter of fact, the country is attracting crypto firms to a regulatory framework that grants them an official license with what it considers to be the hotspot of real cryptocurrencies this year.
Each country has different approaches to cryptocurrencies. Some countries do not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal, while others benefit from the profit of the cryptocurrency market by creating legal frameworks. At a time when the world continues to change and technology is evolving so much, it seems certain that all countries of the world will need cryptocurrencies and the underlying
blockchain
technology.
