Romania and Latvia to update regulation on crypto industry

Romania and Latvia are among the latest European countries to launch analytical work on updating their respective regulations for the cryptoasset and blockchain industry.

In Romania’s case, this could potentially mean increasing national taxes on crypto-related operations and transactions. In Latvia, the government aims to intensify its anti-money laundering (AML) efforts.

Representatives of the Romanian and Latvian Ministries of Finance said that the next regulatory steps to be taken at the national level will largely depend on the outcome of the ongoing discussions within the European Union of which both countries are member states.

Romania’s Ministry of Finance is fully aware of the relevance of cryptoassets for the country’s fiscal system. At the same time, the government finds it is necessary to update the country’s tax regime. The Ministry is following the taxonomy implemented in other countries, taking part — internally and within the international institutions — in activities and the process of analysis and identification of solutions for the implementation of the market of cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, in Latvia, the country’s Ministry of Finance is looking to enhance the overall virtual asset service provider (VASP) supervisory framework.