Kyrgyzstan Central Bank Is Set to Introduce Bills to Monitor Crypto Exchanges Activities and Forcing Them to Apply for Permits
The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBKR) revealed its new-year plans for the national crypto industry. They are about to introduce two drafts to regulate the country’s exchanges that aim to combat terrorism, money laundering, and protecting consumers.
Kyrgyzstan Central Bank Set to Introduce Two Crypto Bills to Combat Terrorism Financing and Fraud
According to Sputnik Kyrgyzstan, the central bank’s bills hope to add a series of anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) measures that should force local crypto exchanges to report their activities. The country wants to reduce the risks of financing terrorist activities and to cut flows of criminal proceeds.
One of the motivations behind introducing such crypto bills is the growing interest among the cryptocurrencies in the country, said the NBKR, as most of their citizens consider it a widespread means of investment nowadays and a solution for cross-border payments.
However, the central bank provided the following issues that they expect to solve with one of the bills by monitoring transactions made through the country’s crypto exchanges:
“Lack of a favorable environment for the development of technology and business; the emergence of fraudulent schemes, the risks of financing terrorist activities and legalization (laundering) of criminal proceeds, as well as capital outflow; protection of consumer and investor rights.”
Seeking to Legally Define Crypto Terms
But the second bill also aims to force local exchanges to abide by a legal framework to fight crypto fraud, comply with a crypto-related tax system, applying for operation permits that should be asked to the NBKR, and also seeks to define terms such as “virtual asset” within the civil code, plus “cryptocurrency” and “cryptoassets.”
Per the local media outlet, the proposed regulation seeks to restrict legal entities and individuals’ rights to participate in the circulation of cryptocurrencies across the country, except exchanges and crypto miners. However, this point is pending to be defined in a final draft, as its definition remains ambiguous.
On August 11, 2020, news.Bitcoin.com reported that Kyrgyzstan proposed a 15% tax on bitcoin (BTC) mining to raise money to fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the nation.
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