The finance minister of Cyprus, Harris Georgiades, has said that the country’s blockchain regulation draft will be ready this year. English-language local finance news outlet FinancialMirror reported the news on July 4. Per the report, Georgiades described blockchain technology as “a new technological revolution similar to that of the internet.” Demetris Syllouris, House speaker, also praised the technology’s potential during the event: “Full implementation of this technology across the public and private sector is expected to radically change the structures of modern societies, the way they are organized and their operation.” According to him, the national strategy will sustain Cyprus’ …

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is calling for the transposition of the European Union (EU)’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive (AMLD5) into national law — bringing local regulation of cryptocurrencies under its provisions. CySEC’s announcement and consultation paper on the matter were published on Feb. 19. Тhe directive, which came into force on July 9, 2018, sets a new legal framework for European financial regulators to monitor crypto-related businesses and service providers in order to protect against money laundering and terrorism financing. Specifically, the directive extends the scope of regulatory oversight to crypto exchanges and wallet providers, enforcing …

Seven southern European Union member states have released a declaration calling for help in the promotion of Distributed Ledger Technology’s (DLT) use in the region, the Financial Times (FT) reports Dec. 4. The declaration was reportedly initiated by Malta and signed by six other member states, France, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Greece, during a meeting of EU transport ministers in Brussels on Tuesday. The participating governments explained that DLT –– one type of which is blockchain –– could be a “game changer” for southern EU economies. Namely, the document cites “education, transport, mobility, shipping, Land Registry, customs, company registry, …

The lawyer for Alexander Vinnik, the alleged former operator of defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, has said that a district court in Cyprus has withdrawn their lawsuit on charges “of fraud, money laundering and other crimes.” This development was reported by state-operated Russian news agency RIA Novosti Nov. 27. Timofey Musatov, the head of the lawyers’ group representing Vinnik, has said that the district court of Limassol city has formally granted the plaintiffs’ petition to recall their lawsuit against Vinnik and even ruled “to compensate the defendant for all legal costs incurred by him.” Musatov added: “The case against Alexander collapsed …

Singapore-based blockchain platform VeChain Foundation, U.S. blockchain startup CREAM, and the national investment partner of the Republic of Cyprus, Invest Cyprus, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), per a press release published Oct. 26. The MoU is focused on establishing a framework in the field of blockchain technologies and related use cases. Per the MoU, the parties will work on a number of national level investment strategies, which involve blockchain-powered economies and promote blockchain technology, particularly in financial services. The agreement also aims to inform government policy making in the blockchain industry, in addition to facilitating economic development in …

Cyprus based Bitcoin exchange Authenta Trade have recently been acquired by Costas Inc., providing the company with an injection of 32 mil. USD to its business plan, and to become a licensed exchange and Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) after the approval of regulator. “AuthentaTrade wants to offer free deposit insurance, liquidity in both legacy and digital currencies, along with convenient payment options for both consumers and retailers. Our goal is to build, acquire, and connect multiple technologies to offer individuals and businesses a compelling suite of Bitcoin-related products and services for trading and payments,” says company in its announcement. The …

Bitcoin prices are on the move upward. Bitcoin volume trading is on the move upward. Greece is on the move downward to a total collapse. Coincidence? I think not. Why? This has all happened once before, over two years ago and maybe we can all learn from the experience, especially all the day traders and speculators out there. Lessons from Cyprus So let’s take a look at where we’ve been as far as bitcoin price and where we may end up going in the near future. Let’s all be bitcoin speculators, in a week where the Greeks have an entire …

Without a hint of irony, the central bank of Cyprus warned citizens against cryptocurrencies, noting that such money is not government-backed, volatile and ripe for money laundering. The bank does not go so far as to describe digital currencies — chiefly Bitcoin — as illegal, but “does not approve any activity that falls within its purview, unless it can ensure the legality of that activity.” To quickly sum up the last year in Cyprus: The country accepted an EU bailout of about 10 billion euro, closed its second-largest bank, froze everyone’s bank accounts, then skimmed money off the top of …