In Serbia, the drafting of a law on cryptocurrencies has begun, which should regulate toblast and make business easier for IT entrepreneurs, Radio Free Europe (RFE) announced.
“The crypto-property regulatory framework will regulate the business of persons performing transactions with virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) in Serbia, which should lead to further improvement of the business and regulatory environment,” the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) told RFE / RL.
In addition to the NBS, representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Securities Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Administration, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, the Belgrade Stock Exchange, as well as representatives of the economy and academia are working on drafting the law.
As it was pointed out, business related to virtual currencies in Serbia is currently regulated only from the aspect of application of the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, and the NBS supervises the application of this law.
Due to the non-existence of a special law that regulates this area, performing a blockchain technology transaction in Serbia is not illegal, but it is not recognized in the legislation, which creates problems for people who deal with the fintech industry (combination of finance and technology) in Serbia, RFE stated.
“If I look at it from the point of view of my company, it would mean to us that this regulation is passed, of course, provided that it is not too restrictive, which it seems to me that it will not be, because we are constantly faced with challenges, both bookkeeping and operational,” co-founder of the Belgrade cryptocurrency exchange ECD, specialized in changing cryptocurrencies, Aleksandar Matanovic, told RSE.
He said he expects the law to bring certainty to business, because when you do something for which there are no standards and rules, you spend a lot of time harmonizing and finding a foothold in the existing regulations for what is being done, instead of spending that time developing products.
“For a start, we had a big problem finding a bookkeeping agency that wants to work with us, because they didn’t know what to do with it and how to put it in the books,” Matanovic said, adding that “bookkeepers continue” and they are not 100 percent sure what they should do and that they will know that only when the law is passed,” he said.
According to him, the dilemma is how cryptocurrencies are classified, because some see them as money, some as digital assets, some as a speculative instrument, and even if a company should show cryptocurrencies in stock, it is not known in which category it should be.
He reminded that cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that do not have a physical form in the real world, such as banknotes or coins.
“With cryptocurrencies, there is no issuer, that is, an institution, company or person behind a certain cryptocurrency, but they are managed by its users,” Matanovic explained, adding that such a concept is still unusual for people, given that they are used to transactions with traditional intermediaries, such as banks.
According to the official statistics of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC), there are more than 20 companies in Serbia that specialize in blockchain development.
“By passing the law on blockchain and cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrencies would be recognized as a financial instrument that can be used in business,” explained Marija Blesic, a member of the Belgrade Crypto Community, which deals with education on blockchain technology.
She believes that the adoption of a progressive law in this area could create an attractive environment for crypto-business.
“We already have a solid number of entrepreneurs who are ready to sell their goods and services for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, lightcoin, safe, and with this law, they could only be encouraged for this type of business,” Blesic said.
She explained that it is possible to trade cryptocurrencies on stock exchanges, so, according to her, it happens every day that people from Serbia sell cryptocurrencies for dinars and then withdraw money from a bank account.
“All Serbian citizens who register on the stock exchanges must abide by the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering. Although some people now call this situation a ‘gray zone’, we really hope that this law will further facilitate and improve business, without introduce some negative consequences for users,” said Blesic.
She pointed out that there are numerous European countries that Serbia can look up to when it comes to the legal regulation of blockchain technology.
In her opinion, France and Portugal are countries that have a correct attitude towards that area, but also Estonia.
Outside of Europe, Japan is one of the first countries to adopt regulations in this area.
RSE reminded that the most famous cryptocurrency is bitcoin, which has had an explosive growth in value several times since its release in 2008, but has also recorded a dizzying decline, so in January 2018 it lost a quarter of its value in just one day, Novi Magazin reports.
