South Korea and India could help Bitcoin on its feet: While in Germany the regulation of crypto transactions is being dealt with and the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has recently taken action against KKTUG, an operator of cryptocurrency ATMs in Germany, South Korea and India are planning to open up to cyber-coins.
On the other hand, even France has recently declared Bitcoin as an official currency, making the cryptocurrency completely legal in the European country. So there are very interesting developments going on in many countries regarding Bitcoin’s legalization and adoption.
BaFin is busy regulating the Crypto-Market
- Act implementing the amending directive to the fourth EU Money Laundering Directive came into force at the beginning of 2020
- India and South Korea open up for Bitcoin & Co.
In the recent past, the BaFin in Germany only took action against Bitcoin ATMs. In a statement, the supervisory authority stated: “Mr. Gramowski, as managing director of KKT UG, operates the site www.shitcoins.club and sets up vending machines throughout Germany where cryptocurrencies can be bought or sold for money. In addition, the company offers so-called “face-to-face” transactions with the possibility to purchase cryptocurrencies. Such ATMs are one of few options people have to immediately cash out cryptocurrencies after buying or trading them on cryptocurrency trading platforms.
As a member of the executive body of KKT UG, Mr. Gramowski thus carries out proprietary trading on a commercial basis in accordance with Section 1 (1a) sentence 1 no. 4 lit. c of the German Banking Act (KWG), without having the necessary license from BaFin in accordance with Section 32 (1) KWG. He is therefore acting illegally.”
This has resulted from an important regulatory change in the crypto-market: On 1 January this year, the Act Implementing the Amending Directive to the fourth EU Money Laundering Directive came into force. As a result, crypto custody business was included in the German Banking Act (KWG) as a separate financial service. Since the beginning of the year, anyone wishing to hold cryptocurrencies and assets in safe custody therefore requires a licence from BaFin – which the operator of the crypto automats does not possess.
South Korea and India open for Bitcoin
Meanwhile, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could soon become legal in South Korea. According to CoinDesk, the National Assembly in South Korea has prepared a change in the law, which should legalize the trade with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Crypto exchanges would thus support the supervision of the regulatory authorities in the future and would be obliged to comply with their guidelines. The law would only have to be signed by President Jaein Moon.
Positive signs are also coming from India regarding cryptocurrencies: The Supreme Court has, after a very restrictive policy on digital currencies up to now, overturned the Central Bank’s ban on crypto. The lifting of the ban could be of great importance for crypto-adaptation, as India is the country with the second largest population worldwide. Blockchain technology is also increasingly used in India – as reported by CoinDesk, it is now used by one in ten coffee farmers.
The positive news for Bitcoin and Co. could provide support for the cryptocurrencies in uncertain times like these. Not only stocks are currently under pressure due to corona worries, cyber currencies have also seen a noticeable downward trend in recent weeks. In the past four weeks, the Bitcoin exchange rate alone lost around 50 percent to 4,800 DU dollars, but climbed up again to nearly 7,000 after the big panic selling cooled down.
