Uruguay Introduces New Crypto Bill that Makes Central Bank Main Crypto Watchdog

The proposed bill is the first bill to address the gray areas around crypto in the country.

Uruguay Introduces New Crypto Bill, Makes Central Bank Main Crypto Watchdog

The Uruguay government is looking to regulate crypto assets such as cryptocurrencies, and aย new cryptocurrency bill project was introduced by the executive power of the Parliament of Uruguay. The objective of the bill is to provide clarification on how cryptocurrency asset-related activities will be regulated.

The proposed bill is the first bill to address the gray areas in which cryptocurrency exchanges and virtual asset service providers operate in the country.

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The bill intends to modify the organic charter of the Central Bank of Uruguay and introduces the Superintendence of Financial Services, part of the central bank, as the main overseer of the activities of virtual asset service providers.

The Central Bank Will Have More Authority to Regulate Crypto Assets

The proposed bill establishes that companies that facilitate the exchange of virtual assets, and third parties that lend financial services related to the offer or sale of a virtual asset, will be considered part of this class. However, the bill introduces another class of organization called a โ€œvirtual asset issuer,โ€ defining it as a platform that issues any type of virtual asset included within the regulatory perimeter or requests admission of regulated virtual assets on a virtual asset trading platform.

As the central bank of the country will be the main crypto watchdog, the proposed bill said that the newly incorporated entities that operate with virtual assets will be subject to the supervision and control powers of the Central Bank of Uruguay.

The bill also refers to virtual asset securities, which are referred to as the digital counterparts of the already established financial securities.

On the Flipside

  • Last year, the senate of Uruguay proposed the legalization of cryptocurrencies as a valid means of payment for goods and services in the country. The process is yet to materialize.ย 

Why You Should Care

The proposed bill is the first bill to address the gray areas around cryptocurrency regulation in Uruguay.

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Akriti Seth

Akriti is a Zurich-based reporter, focused on the political, regulatory, and legislative developments around crypto. She is a business journalist with over six years of experience working as a correspondent for organizations like Channel NewsAsia and Bloomberg TV India. In that time, Akriti has covered news in the finance, pharma, and state sectors.

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