Georgia’s Central Bank Working With IMF to Develop Regulatory Framework for Crypto

Koba Gvenetadze, the governor of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), which is the central bank of Georgia (a former republic of the Soviet Union), said in a recent interview that NBG is working on a regulatory framework for crypto.

In an interview published on Monday (April 4) in Georgian news outlet “The Financial”, Gvenetadze was asked what the estimated turnover of cryptocurrency is in Georgia.

Gvenetadze replied:

“Due to the fact that the VASP sector is not regulated at this stage, we do not have accurate data on this issue. However, the fifth Round Mutual Evaluation Report of Georgia which was published in September 2020… states that the exchange transaction volume can be between GEL 3.5 to 5 million (EUR 1 to 1.5 million) per month.“

And when he was asked if NBG plans to regulate the crypto market in Georgia, he answered:

“Yes, the NBG is planning to regulate crypto market in Georgia. To this regard we have developed an initial draft of the relevant legislative changes in accordance with Financial Action Task Force requirements. We are also benefitting from technical assistance of the International Monetary Fund staff in the development of this regulatory framework. Draft of Legislative changes at this stage includes registration / licensing, compliance testing and AML control requirements for crypto market players.

“It should be noted, however, that before aforementioned regulations enters into force, some measures have already been taken by the NBG. In particular, financial institutions have been banned from providing virtual asset exchange and transfer services. Also, persons that carry out activities related to virtual assets should be classified by financial institutions as high risk clients and should be subject to appropriate enhanced preventive measures.“

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.

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