New law in the making.
Cryptos to be known as virtual valuta from now on.
Business it is!
Nederland, as a small European country, is well known for its trading history (Don't mention the TULIP!). It started off with the trading of stock on an exchange, back in the year 1602. And while other countries try to forbid , obstruct the usage and / or make trading of Cryptos nearly impossible, the Nederish government now came forward with legislation. It is a part of a change to an anti-laundering law, that is true, but also is trading art over 10'000 Euro and renting out estate at over 10'000 Euro. It is allowed, yet it needs to be licensed and companies that deal with Cryptos need to know their customers. And yes, that could be considered a downside. Exchange it for so called 'fiat' money and it will be registered. Therefore it will be known and it shall be taxed likewise. Now, other businesses that deal with things like gold and so on already know that this is just a part of the deal. For the Libertarians and Voluntarists this is probably bad news. More legislation, less personal freedom, that is indeed a part of these measurements.
On the other hand this now is a big step forward. As this law addition might set an example for a lot of other countries in the world. Those who want to trade in secret though, will still do so. But with more stable-coins coming in combined with this legislation things might just turn around for Cryptos. This is not what many hoped Cryptos would manage to do. But after ten years it now really seems to get a legal status. So at the tenth birthday of Bitcoin {BTC} it might be also the breakthrough into mainstream. And of course there has been a lot of FUD {Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt} spread around about this legislation by the Nederish government. Companies that want to trade in Cryptos and offer services to their customers need to get a license. This is quite common in a lot of businesses though, especially where there is money laundering possible. But soon the Crypto critics that claim it is only being used for illegal activities and as a means of finance for rogue entities can be told that they are wrong. And it is no reason to go out into the streets and celebrate, that would be just a bit over the top. Because the banking monetary governance system now also got a bit more in control over Cryptos.
The biggest thing here is that Cryptos will can be considered a legal tender. Even though some big banks and their management will disapprove of this new status for Cryptos as being virtual valuta. While they really should keep their big mouth shut as they are part of the problem, laundering money by the hundreds of billions. It is understandable, to some level, as the banks now really have competition, debt and interest free valuta, which grows in value, instead of devaluating. So even if this does seem to be just a way to control and tax the use of Cryptos, it also is a legalization. And for this a small price has to be paid. With Nederland now making it real, more countries soon might follow. And then it might indeed become a market of trillions...
All in all it is a small victory.
This article is published on the Whaleshares and Steem blockchain.