Gibraltar has just released a new regulation with which it intends to combat the possible manipulation of the cryptocurrency market and the use of privileged information. Specifically, the Financial Services Commission of the British Overseas Territory seeks to establish a framework that maintains the integrity of the market and generates greater confidence in these digital currencies, as well as increasing their use and adoption.
This is not the first time that Gibraltar has developed regulations tailored to the cryptocurrency market. In 2018, it became the first jurisdiction to introduce a licensing regime for blockchain companies operating in the territory. These include FTX, Huobi and Bullish, backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. In the case of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, company executives have also visited Gibraltar, although they do not yet have a license.
The new regulations respond to the growing need to incorporate these digital currencies into the regulation, as some of the world’s main economies are already doing, with the US and the UK in the lead. According to Gibraltar’s minister for digital and financial services, Albert Isola, to CNBC, this need stems from greater adoption and is not an attempt to “commercialize”. In this case, they want “a very small but quality number of companies” within the jurisdiction of the British Overseas Territory.
First crypto stock exchange
Also, the recently announced regulations would serve to give greater confidence to investors, while Gibraltar awaits the approval of its financial regulators to . In October last year, the firm made an offer to take over 80% of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange to combine it with its blockchain business and create the first regulated crypto stock exchange.
One of the main concerns is the risk that operations in bitcoins serve to mask money laundering or other illicit operations. Richard Poulden, president of Valereum, is confident that the technology is sufficient to detect and expel potential criminals, since he does not consider that the necessary controls for this type of instrument are so different from those used by normal banks for decades. .
For its part, the main promise lies in offering investors the possibility of buying cryptocurrencies such as ether or litecoin, or investing in decentralized finance (DeFi) with these tokens, from the same platform where Treasury bonds from other countries or actions are acquired. of normal companies.
Tax haven
In the past, Gibraltar has been harshly criticized for its lack of transparency, coming to be considered by many countries as a tax haven, a label that it also intends to get rid of to prevent it from becoming a shock to investors in cryptocurrencies.
According to Isola, the jurisdiction “fully complies with all applicable UK transparency and information sharing regulations.” Rules that also apply to cryptocurrencies.
In mid-March, the agreement on taxation and protection of financial interests between Spain and the United Kingdom on Gibraltar entered into force, intended to put an end to this consideration. In response, Spain removed the British Overseas Territory from its list of tax havens.
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