With the recent announcement of China’s prohibition towards Bitcoin, many wonder what the future might look like and if this represents the doom of what was initially considered the future of money. However, China alone doesn’t determine the entire world’s position regarding cryptocoins, as there are other regions in the world which have embraced digital money and don’t seem to be planning on going back to the past.
China’s position regarding cryptocurrencies
The Chinese committee responsible for deciding to ban ICOs has indicated that some of these ICOs are nothing more than financial frauds and pyramid scams, something the central bank of Singapore also expressed concern about. The Chinese government is already investigating 60 exchange markets for this type of coins, and two of the big platforms to buy new tokens in these ICOs (ICOage and ICO.info) have put their activities on hold.
State of regulations in the US
With Donald Trump’s presidential victory, a different picture of blockchain and cryptocoins began to be drawn in the United States, a prognosis that was affirmed by the presence of three members of the openly pro-bitcoin government. This situation has become a change of tone and concepts about cryptocoins and distributed technologies, which have ceased to be judged through accusations without evidence to start being subjected to investigative scrutiny to understand their functioning, benefits and possible risks.
In the midst of this new campaign, the US government is also considering starting accepting bitcoins for visas, a decision that could generate a favourable scenario for the international cryptocoins. However, while there is great news from the United States for the bitcoin world this 2017, it does not mean that government suspicion has disappeared.
In the banking sector, the Federal Reserve has carried out regular tests with blockchain, planning to use this technology in the payments system and has recognised that the distributed tools could change the financial system.
Cryptocurrencies in Europe
Spanish organisations, with the help of Latin American organised communities, have succeeded in building an international alliance in favour of financial technologies, including Bitcoin. Faced with the increasingly resounding success of blockchain and the fast growth of Bitcoin’s use throughout the country, it is by no means unreasonable that the Spanish community and the government entities begin to raise discussions about the legality of the cryptocurrencies in the region, as well as possible regulations to come.
The Spanish government remains on the sidelines of imposing rules in the cryptocoins sector following the recommendations of the European Banking Authority (EBA), which would have stressed the need for an “all-encompassing” approach with the aim of avoiding any national legislative regulation that is not in agreement with the European community. This does not change the fact that legislators have their eyes on the cryptographic currencies and are pending any statement from the EU to work in this sector.
Mexico, Latin America, and cryptocoins
Mexico has become one of the principal competitors in the financial technologies market, appearing in the industry in conjunction with the United States, Brazil, Argentina and China.
In the particular case of cryptographic currencies, Mexico has been characterised by a thriving ecosystem that is in constant development and whose primary objective is to become an alternative for the unbanked population and a new financial method for the great and small investors of the country.
Principally, the mercantile authorities not only from Mexico but also at the international level, perceive that the cryptographic currencies are not yet prepared or have reached a maturity level to face a national legal regulation and recognition. They also consider they don’t have the infrastructure to put in practice such laws as is the case of an authority in charge of monitoring and penalizing such services.
However, not everything is negative. Experts in the field consider that the only legal approach that would not affect the development of blockchain tools is the application of flexible regulations or monitoring the development of distributed accounting technologies before applying legal considerations since too strict regulation could stop or undermine innovation.