As the world of crypto evolves rapidly so too do the regulations that govern it, with significant changes having occurred over the past few years.

The Global Regulatory Landscape:
The approach to crypto still differs vastly from country to country, with its legal status key to how nations are developing their regulatory frameworks.

A recent study by the Atlantic Council reviewed 60 countries (amongst them the G20 nations), 33 of which classify crypto as legal; 17 have a partial ban and 10 a general ban in place.

Underlining the dynamism of crypto regulations, 70% of those countries are in the process of making “substantial changes” to their regulatory framework.

Key Regulatory Areas:
Taxation policy, anti-money laundering protocols, consumer protection and licensing are all at differing stages of development in the various territories.

As things stand, many follow an approach that focuses on containment, with a shift towards maintaining financial stability while encouraging - not hindering - innovation a key goal.

Regional Developments:
In the United States, a 2022 devolution of power to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) led to a number of filings by the SEC against crypto-focused businesses over their products and services.

Federal legislative efforts have been slow, and there is still a long way to go.

In Europe, the introduction of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) framework has been rolled out. It focuses heavily on consumer protection, transparency and anti-money laundering, with an overall aim to create a more trustworthy environment for investors.

The descriptions provided above are all based on publicly available information, and cannot be considered as financial advice. Sources of information used in this post include Investopedia, World Economic Forum and Atlantic Council.  All transactions involving digital assets involve certain risks, which you should familiarize yourself with prior to any investment.