In Armenia, the central bank is required to do its job and set up a national crypto space. Both government regulators and representatives of the financial sector argue that the industry needs regulation to prevent cryptocurrencies from being used for illicit purposes.
Armenian bankers and tax authorities call for crypto regulation
The State Revenue Commission (SRC), the regulatory agency in charge of Armenia’s tax and customs services, has turned to the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) to urge the financial authorities to ensure the regulation of the country’s crypto market. Rustam Badasyan, head of the agency, elaborated at the Armenian Parliament.
Without regulating this area, we allow shady transactions to take place and there are examples of both tax evasion and money laundering using cryptocurrencies.
SRC officials made the statement at a congressional hearing devoted to the execution of last year’s national budget, financial and banking news portal Armbanks.am reported Wednesday. The commission works closely with the CBA and oversees the Customs and Tax Administration of the small South Caucasus country.
Badashan also noted that the authorities are currently unable to take any action with regard to transactions in digital assets. He pointed to cases involving the exchange of cryptocurrencies for large amounts of fiat money and said that investigations have yielded no results due to the lack of a legal framework in this area.
His comments follow an earlier statement by the executive director of the Armenian Banking Union Seyran Sargsyan, who said that issues related to the identification of cryptocurrency users and transparency in crypto transactions need to be addressed. The banker stressed that Armenian financial institutions do not deal in digital coins and do not offer related services.
In March 2021, Armenia and other members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) failed to agree on a common approach to the adoption of rules for the crypto economy in their jurisdiction, crypto news outlet Forklog noted in a report The report stated. The demand for crypto regulation in Armenia stems from ongoing discussions on the issue in Russia that have delayed its regulatory framework.
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