Europe
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
Malta
Cryptocurrency rules not yet enforced in Malta: Malta’s new cryptocurrency regulatory framework is not in effect right now.
The three cryptocurrency-centric bills were passed by the country’s parliament in June, thus setting out a number of progressive changes to the country’s cryptocurrency scene. However, the Malta Financial Services Authority has said that none of these laws are in force as of now.
The reason given is because the government is working on the development of Virtual Assets Financial Framework that will which will enable the regulation to be enforced.
It is, however, unclear when the framework will be ready for implementation.
UK
Surrey police first to confiscate and sell BTC in the UK: UK’s Surrey county police has reportedly completed the liquidation of more than BTC 296 confiscated earlier this year from money laundering suspects, according to Forbes.
Latvian national Seregjs Teresko was the first to be arrested and deported for money laundering in the country and the BTC were recovered from him. He is currently serving nine years in prison for his crimes.
However, the sale was poorly timed as at that time, the Bitcoin were valued at USD 1.5 million but since then, the currency appreciated a lot. The local AML court declared the sale legal and the police department was allowed to keep 18.8% of the funds for its operational fund while a budget bonus was also announced for the local police totaling around USD 385,000.
A spokesperson for the police said:
“Our responsibility was to ask the courts for permission to act, within the existing legal frameworks, and once given that permission, to take action… We wouldn’t speculate by holding onto any asset or property (whether Bitcoin, jewelry, vehicle or otherwise) that was seized under Proceeds of Crime Act in the hope of it changing in value.”
Germany
German Bundesliga joins English Premier League in opening doors for crypto: According to latest reports from Germany, the popular football league Bundesliga has joined the English Premier league in welcoming cryptocurrency and blockchain.
The German club Hamburg SV based in Hamburg city has signed a partnership with fintech company NAGA for the 2018/2019 season. NAGA was founded in the same city back in 2015 and continues to post impressive gains while complying with local laws.
NAGA executive director Benjamin Bilski said regarding the partnership:
“Our values and entrepreneurial attitudes are a perfect match, especially as HSV is open to new technologies, which is exactly what NAGA stands for. Because we are very familiar with statistics and technology, sophisticated and constantly new applications play a big role in our success.”
The move follows the EPL team Wolverhampton that made a local cryptocurrency exchange CoinDeal its main sponsor in a first in the continent.
Ethereum co-founder labels Berlin most important city in blockchain development: News from Germany show that Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin has said that “Berlin is the most important city in the Blockchain cosmos”.
Lubin made these comments to a local German News outlet. He said:
“Berlin has the infrastructure, Berlin has the talent, the really good programmers are here… the government needs to set up more programs to promote blockchain.”
While Lubin acknowledged that Blockchain and cryptocurrency in general was in its initial stages of development, he is pinning hopes on the popularity of cryptocurrencies to bring the world’s attention to the genre.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan to apply blockchain technology: Azerbaijan is the host to the first big cryptocurrency conference in the country hosted in Baku. The conference will host ICOs, exchanges and blockchain companies from around the world according to latest reports from the EuroAsian country.
While the country presented a largely conservative stance on cryptocurrencies in the past, it is slowly but surely opening up to the idea of cryptocurrencies.
Nidjat Imanov, deputy-director of the Department of Tax Policy and Strategic Studies at the Ministry of Taxes stated regarding cryptocurrency taxation:
“Incomes from operations with cryptocurrencies will be taxed. Formally, this means – corporate profit tax for legal entities and personal income tax for individuals… If someone bought cryptocurrency and then sold it at a higher price, that amount must be reported as income and subjected to taxation.”
Ukraine
Cryptocurrency regulations proposed in Ukraine after growing popularity: The Ukrainian National Securities and Exchange Commission (NSMCS) has said in a statement that the regulatory body Financial Stability Council (FSC) is considering cryptocurrency legislation in the country after increasing appeal for cryptocurrency and blockchain investment.
As of right now, the Ukrainian government hasn’t proposed legalization of cryptocurrencies in the country despite increasing levels of activity in the country but legislation talks are underway for the future.
The head of the NSMCS has suggested to move forward to recognize cryptocurrencies as tokens or financial instruments before finalizing on regulation to give the government a legal footing on the matter.
Russia
Russian cryptocurrency experts see 10 times cut in wages despite high demand: A recent documentation by the government of Russia shows the cryptocurrency sphere has seen a big cut in wages of the crypto employees despite the sector being in high demand.
A study by hh.ru shows that security analysts, project managers and legal experts got RUB 100,000, a cut of 40% from last year alone. PR specialists also faced a cut of nearly 50% during the same period as well.
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