In the Republic of Ireland the responsibility of regulating financial services belongs to the CBI. However, this institution does not govern digital currencies in any way. In fact, there is no such governmental agency in Ireland that controls the market of cryptocurrencies. What is more, it is not defined whether and to what degree the existing financial legislation applies to this sector, which foreshadows the fact that the cryptocurrency market can truly be considered an unseen phenomenon.
Nevertheless, the CBI issued a warning aiming at investors regarding the possible risks connected to potentially losing their funds partially or completely while investing in cryptocurrencies or ICOs.
So, what is the situation with registering a cryptocurrency business in the Republic of Ireland, and does is it worth creating a cryptocurrency exchange there?
Process of registration
To express their opinion on digital currencies and the DLT system, the Treasury Department issued a report in 2018. The statement expressed a concern that government agencies cannot be capable of predicting and preventing all risks connected to cryptocurrencies altogether. Therefore, a specially dedicated interdepartmental group is being developed now. Its task will be considering different problems related to digital currencies and coming up with possible relatable advice.
The Republic of Ireland never created any particular legislation defining taxation rules for cryptocurrencies. Yet in 2018 the Revenue Commission published a report on taxation of transactions involving cryptocurrencies.
Prognoses for the regulation of cryptocurrencies
The creation of a special organization that focuses on the promotion of DLT and cryptocurrencies in the Republic of Ireland called Blockchain Ireland only highlights the importance of the digital currency sector in the country. In addition, the CBI announced that they have been working on a center of excellence and innovation. Its main goal will be to provide companies with a chance to communicate with Ireland’s financial institutions directly.
All in all, everyone is expecting more recommendations from the CBI and government agencies about the potential application of existing legislation to digital currencies and DLT. Also, Ireland’s crypto exchange regulation will probably be massively influenced by the transposing of Directive AMLD5.
Do you still have hesitations about establishing a crypto business in Ireland? Just contact COREDO; we will provide you all the necessary advice and help you with registration.