Regulation
Lithuania Moves to Strengthen Cryptocurrency Market Supervision
Lithuania’s Seimas (parliament) has voted to strengthen supervision of virtual currency, or crypto-asset, companies.
MPs adopted their respective amendments to the Cryptocurrency Markets Act and accompanying legislation by a vote of 101 to 0 with five abstentions, News.Az reports citing Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT).
The amendments include a transition period to adapt to the European Markets in Cryptocurrencies Regulation (MiCA). Lithuania is one of the first countries in the European Union to implement these provisions.
Market participants will have until June 2025 to prepare and obtain licenses. Until then, virtual currency operators will have to submit documents required by the MiCA Regulation to the Central Bank of Lithuania.
“They will become companies on an equal footing with other financial institutions operating under the same requirements. Uniform rules in the EU will generally lead to a fairer competitive environment for such companies and make their migration from one EU country to another less significant,” Mindaugas Lingė, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee, told BNS on the eve of the vote.
According to him, the regulation of cryptocurrency markets will clarify the industry and the competitive environment.
The Bank of Lithuania estimates that more than 100 companies could apply for the license, about a sixth of those currently operating.