Amongst the 25 international locations we studied, cryptocurrency is authorized in 13, partially banned in 9, and customarily banned in 3. In ten G20 international locations, representing over 50% of the world’s GDP, cryptocurrencies are totally authorized. Regulation is into consideration in all G20 international locations.
Tax coverage and licensing necessities are the vanguard in regulatory growth. In lots of the international locations analyzed, tax coverage and licensing necessities had been applied first, adopted by different guidelines and necessities. In others, taxation stays the one sort of crypto-asset regulation.
Among the many international locations reviewed, there’s a usually weak relationship between cryptocurrency adoption charges and regulatory restrictiveness. Six of the highest ten international locations in cryptocurrency adoption have partial or common bans in place.
Crypto-asset rules are altering quickly. Of the international locations reviewed, 88% are within the course of of creating substantial adjustments to their regulatory framework, typically via new, bespoke laws addressing cryptocurrency markets.
Experimentation is widespread. Nations use regulatory sandboxes to check and co-operate with the non-public sector. Japan created an affiliation of cryptocurrency exchanges and issuers in an try to encourage self-regulation. Canada, Italy, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia have developed regulatory sandboxes.
Nations with common bans—China, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan—have excessive ranges of adoption throughout centralized, peer-to-peer, and decentralized platforms. This can be defined by enforcement lag, enforcement capability, or political will.
Stablecoins, that are often backed by a fiat foreign money, represent the subsequent frontier of crypto regulation. Within the EU, US, UK, and Thailand stablecoin regulation is into consideration. In Mexico, monetary establishments can not subject stablecoins.
Shopper safety guidelines are lagging behind. Solely 44% of the international locations reviewed have guidelines in place to guard shoppers. Such guidelines embrace promoting rules, cybersecurity necessities for service suppliers, investor accreditation, and others. These guidelines can efficiently forestall fraud.
Of the 25 international locations analyzed, over 90% have lively central financial institution digital foreign money (CBDC) tasks along with cryptocurrency rules. This means that international locations adapt and replace cryptocurrency rules concurrently as they discover CBDCs.