USA. The New Hampshire House of Representatives approved a new version of HB 1503. If the bill becomes a law, it exempts the developer, seller, or the exchange facilitator from some state securities laws.
Australia. Senator Andrew Bragg has proposed a comprehensive legislative package. It implies reforms in crypto market licensing, custody, decentralized autonomous organizations, debanking and taxes. As expected, the act will be reviewed no later than December 31, 2022.
United Arab Emirates. Dubai started the regulation of virtual assets and crypto trading platforms on March 9, 2022. FTX and Binance have been confirmed as the first crypto corporations to receive the VASP (virtual asset service provider) license. The license allows them to establish an office in the emirate and provide digital asset exchange services to pre-qualified investors and financial enterprises under the adopted regulations.
Qatar. The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) investigates digital currency opportunities. However, the QCB decision may determine whether Qatar will have a digital currency or not. The direction of the QCB will be clearer in the next couple of months.
Thailand‘s cabinet has relaxed the tax rules for investments in digital assets. The new rules allow crypto traders to offset annual losses against gains for taxes due on their investments, and exempt a 7% VAT (value-added tax) for cryptocurrency trading on the government-approved exchanges. These tax rules will apply from April 2022 until December 2023.
India is tightening its already stringent requirements: the loss from the transfer of VDA (Virtual Digital Assets) will not be allowed to offset the income arising from the transfer of another VDA from April 1, 2022. This means that crypto traders cannot deduct losses from crypto trading from taxes due on gains. It seems that the tax amount (30%) can offset residual profits for small traders now.
Malaysia considers the adoption of cryptocurrencies. The deputy communications and multimedia minister calls the government to legalize cryptocurrency and non fungible tokens (NFT).
Honduras. March 23, 2022: The Central Bank abandoned plans to make Bitcoin a legal tender along with fiat money.
Furthermore, check out the research Crypto Industry Regulatory Risks rated by Countries in 2022 in our blog.
References:
- New Hampshire House Bill 1503. Openstates.org, March 15, 2022
- Sinclair, S. “Australia Seeks Licensing of Crypto Exchanges Via Digital Services Act”, Blockworks, 2022, March 21, 2022
- Helms, K. “Dubai Approves First Law to Regulate Digital Assets, Establishes Regulator to Oversee Crypto Sector”, Bitcoin.com, March 10, 2022
- FTX Europe. “FTX Europe enters the world’s first prudentially regulated virtual asset jurisdiction in Dubai”, Cision PR Newswire, March 15, 2022
- Adebayo, O. “Binance earns license of operation in the UAE”, Cryptopolitan, March 17, 2022
- Dizon, L.R.R. “QCB studying digital currencies and digital banking: Official”, The Peninsula, March 16, 2022
- Sriring, O., Thaichareon, K., Staporncharnchai, S., Thepgumpanat, P. “Thailand approves relaxed tax rules for digital assets”, Reuters, March 9, 2022
- Raj, S. “Fear and despair echoes in crypto industry after govt refuses to allow offsetting losses”, The Economic Times, March 21, 2022”
- Bernama. “K-KOMM urges the use of cryptocurrencies to be allowed”, Harian Metro, March 21, 2022
- Banco Central de Honduras. Comunicado, March 23, 2022