Georgia to Unveil New Cryptocurrency Law by This Fall

 Georgia to Unveil New Cryptocurrency Law by This Fall

Georgia is all set to unveil the new cryptocurrency law. Officials are now holding discussions with industry representatives to finalise a bill formulated to regulate coin trading, among other crypto-related activities. The legislation will be presented to the Georgian society by the end of this fall, a top central bank official announced.

Central Bank of Georgia Talks to Crypto Stakeholders 

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) is fine-tuning a draft law tailored to establish a legal framework for certain operations with cryptocurrencies with the help of stakeholders from the sector. Public and business officials are currently holding talks on the new legislation, the bank’s Vice Governor Papuna Lezhava revealed, quoted by Sputnik Georgia. He stated:

"We are working on a bill regulating cryptocurrency, and now it is at the stage of deliberation with the stakeholders. The final document will be made public either in the summer or by the end of the fall."

The law will regulate several crypto-related issues at the same time, the central bank official elaborated. These include consumer protection and cryptocurrency trade. Its provisions will introduce rules for trading platforms such as digital assets exchanges. However, they do not include crypto miners and their activities, Lezhava noted.

Cryptocurrency mining became a popular business and an alternative income source for many Georgians a few years ago. A study by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), published in 2018, ranked Georgia second in the world in terms of amount of electricity used to extract digital coins.

In April, NBG Governor Koba Gvenetadze told the Georgian business news portal the Financial that the monetary authority was planning to regulate transactions in the crypto space of the Southern Caucasus country. He revealed that companies in the industry may expect a licensing regime.

The regulator also intends to ban traditional financial institutions from providing crypto-related services. Gvenetadze also pointed out that the amendments the central bank is working on are in compliance with the requirements of the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).