Portugal crypto regulation cannot “castrate evolutionâ€
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Loading... - James Fisher
- 11 Feb 2022
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The Portuguese Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association has defended that the regulation of crypto-assets is important, but cannot castrate evolution, while the Bank of Portugal considered that assets such as Bitcoin do not yet fulfil the functions of currencies.
“I am an advocate of regulation as long as it does not castrate technological evolution, but fulfils the role of protecting investors and indicating the benefits and harms of technology”, said Fred Antunes at the online conference “Cryptocurrencies: A solution to what problem? ”, organised by the Portuguese Association of Digital Law (APDIG).
According to Fred Antunes, the cryptocurrency market “was born from a somewhat libertarian essence” and the “only thing it intends to do is bring transparency and justice to financial systems and digital management systems”.
"What can never happen are the scandals of the past, where some have many privileges and others do not even have the right to choose whether or not to participate in the payment of privileges for some," he said.
On the side of Banco de Portugal, the director of the Payment Systems Department, Rita Bairros, considered that digital currencies are not currency because they do not fulfil the functions assigned to currencies: given the instability, they do not allow for the preservation of purchasing power, therefore, they do not allow store of value; are not legal tender (even if in some places they function as a means of payment); and the value fluctuates a lot over time, so they don't work as a unit of account. “Without a central entity, it is difficult for cryptocurrencies to be considered true currencies,” she said.
From a legal perspective, the chairman of the Bar Association said that cryptocurrencies do not comply with the principle of legal tender (when they are mandatorily accepted as a means of payment) and the principle of monetary nominalism (even if they lose value, payments are made in the same amount) . Still on the topic of crypto assets, Menezes Leitão said that there are areas not covered by the law, but that will become so: “It is normal in a new phenomenon that the law takes time to intervene, but sooner or later it regulates”, he said. Read More…
