Throughout its evolution, cryptocurrency has received both praise and criticism. A three-year evaluation of its performance between 2018 and 2021 has increased the volume of setbacks globally.
While the year 2021 saw a significant boost in the market performance of the entire crypto ecosystem, it also saw more bashing on digital assets. When compared to 2018, the number of nations or jurisdictions having cryptocurrency-restrictive regulations more than doubles in 2021.
According to the Library of Congress (LOC), nine jurisdictions currently have an absolute ban on crypto, while 42 have an implied ban. According to the initial report in 2018, the statistics have increased from 8 and 15 respectively.
Oman, Qatar, Algeria, Egypt, China, Morocco, Bangladesh, Iraq, and Tunisia are among the nine nations that have an outright prohibition on cryptocurrency, according to LOC. China’s crypto ban in 2021 drew the most attention of any country on the list. The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library of the United States Senate. It also serves as the country’s national library.
The LOC study defined an absolute restriction and an implicit ban based on their context. According to the article, an absolute ban is defined as owning cryptocurrencies or conducting transactions, which is a criminal crime.
On the other hand, an implicit ban prohibits crypto exchanges, banks, or financial firms from engaging in crypto transactions or offering crypto-related services.
The gradual increase of countries banning and restricting cryptocurrencies over the last three years is highly concerning. Furthermore, there is no discernible reduction as more governments reevaluate their stance on cryptocurrency.
Aside from the 51 jurisdictions that have a crypto prohibition, over 103 countries have enacted tough legislation and restrictions. These include the implementation of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) legislation. The figure represents a threefold rise over the previous year’s value of 33 jurisdictions with such regulations.
In November, a similar decision was made by a Swedish financial regulatory agency and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to prohibit Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining.
The restriction was imposed due to the power requirements and environmental costs associated with operating the networks. Melanion Capital, a Paris-based investment firm, opposed the restriction. The claims against mining were branded as “misinformation” by the corporation.
Furthermore, Estonia’s neighbor across the Baltic Sea, the Swedish European Union, is prepared to implement AML/CFT rules by February. The regulations’ applicability is expected to change the meaning of virtual asset service providers. It will also impose an implicit ban on Bitcoin and DeFi.
The Indian government, for its part, frightened its citizens last year when its parliament voted to outlaw cryptocurrency. Despite the fact that there was no outright ban, they imposed severe limitations on cryptocurrency.
