The trend of crypto regulation in Post-soviet countries

Unfortunately, crypto regulations make things a little bit harder, especially in post-soviet countries. There are certain countries that allow bitcoin to co-exist with FIAT currencies, but there are some that have banned it, claiming that if a currency is not controlled by a government, it’s not a legal one. 

Some of the most interesting countries are the post-soviet ones. Reason why we created this short analysis of what’s the status of crypto regulation in post-soviet countries. 

Crypto regulation in Post-soviet countries

1. Turkmenistan – Crypto in Turkmenistan is controversial. ICOs were banned by the government a while ago but there’s not a clear government ban. 
2. Estonia – Surprisingly, Estonia is one of the most crypto friendly countries. People can buy here up to one thousand euro a month without any problems. But, if the amount exceeds one thousand euro per month, you may need to notify the government. However, bitcoin has always been legal here. And instead of banning it, the Estonian government actually created a way for people to use and to leverage this for their economical advantage.   
3. Latvia – By contrast, Latvia is not so open about crypto. The status of cryptocurrencies here is controversial, even though there were 26 ICOs that were created in Latvia. In 2017, Latvia added cryptocurrency to their AML laws and introduced monitoring requirements for virtual currency providers. 
4. Lithuania – Lithuania declared bitcoin as being legal. Yes, you’ve heard that right. Lithuania made bitcoin legal in order to improve their economy. 33 ICOs took place in Lithuania in 2017 and you can easily buy or sell cryptocurrencies there. 
5. Georgia – There are not so many things that we know about Georgia in the cryptocurrency sector. One that we know though, is that Georgia exempted cryptocurrencies from value-added tax. However, ICOs are restricted in Georgia. 
6. Azerbaijan – Cryptocurrencies are legal here, but the central bank advised people to proceed with caution when trading crypto. Also, regulations are being drafted right now and the future status of Azerbaijan relating cryptocurrencies is unknown. However, there was a lot of news that Azerbaijan started to use blockchain technology. 
7. Russia – Russia declared bitcoin as being ‘not illegal’ in 2017. The situation there is getting better, mining and cryptocurrency trading are expected to fall under the Russian tax code. 
8. Uzbekistan – Uzbekistan is one of the world leaders when talking about cryptocurrency adoption. The country declared bitcoin as being legal and also made trading and mining legal and tax free. 
9. Armenia – Armenia didn’t legalize bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, so the status of cryptocurrency there is pretty controversial. They are probably waiting for other countries to set an example in this case. As such, Armenia is not a bitcoin and crypto friendly country. 
10. Kyrgyzstan – Bitcoin is legal but its use as a currency in domestic settlements is prohibited by the government.
11. Kazakhstan – The president of Kazakhstan called for regulations of cryptocurrencies under UN’s oversight. The country seems to be aiming at becoming one of the global leaders of the cryptocurrency adoption, Binance even added options to accept Kazakhstani tenge.
12. Moldova – Cryptocurrency in moldova is controversial. The central bank announced to their customers that investing in cryptocurrencies is highly risky and not recommended.  
13. Tajikistan – Cryptocurrencies are not legal in Tajikistan and their central bank announced their people that there are risks while using them. Therefore, the status of Tajikistan is pretty much controversial as well, as bitcoin is not illegal there, but neither legal.
14. Belarus – Belarus is one of the leaders that consider bitcoin as being legal. There’s more, mining and operations in cryptocurrency are not susceptible to taxation. Cryptocurrencies are regulated and they recently proposed a law that allows the government to seize cryptocurrency from criminals. 
15. Ukraine – Ukraine seems to be a  country that wants to regulate cryptocurrencies. They have been recently working with Binance in order to establish a regulatory framework. Moreover, the revenue agency of Ukraine proposed a few guidelines so that the taxpayers know how to report their cryptocurrency holdings.  
16. Romania – Recently, their government proposed a way to regulate cryptocurrencies and crypto transactions, which is similar to their policy on gambling. Cryptocurrencies are legal in Romania and also taxable.

It seems that post-soviet countries are generally open to cryptocurrencies, as long as the taxpayers report the revenue obtained from them or it drives their economical power up. One thing that it’s worth mentioning is that countries like Estonia, Lithuania or Belarus are really open to cryptocurrencies and have made huge progress in regulating them.