Turkey considers limited tax on crypto transactions, not profits

Singaporean regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has awarded cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp a Major Payment Institution (MPI) trading license.Photo by Julien de Salaberry on UnsplashExpanding into APACIn a blog post published on July 3, Bitstamp proclaimed that it is “globally trusted & now licensed in Singapore.” The company described the acquisition of the license as a milestone that “marks the start of [its] expansion into the APAC region.” It emerged in June 2024 that Bitstamp had been acquired by American trading platform Robinhood. The $200 million acquisition was finally completed last month. Bitstamp signaled last September that it planned to expand its institutional business across Australia and Asia. Earlier this year, parent company Robinhood outlined that it would use Bitstamp to crypto offerings in Singapore in 2025.Acquiring licensesAt that time, Johann Kerbrat, vice-president and general manager of Robinhood Crypto, said that “part of the reason why Bitstamp was attractive was because of their licenses with Singapore, in addition to its institutional business.” This latest license award strengthens the company’s efforts in gaining more traction in Asia. Licensing is all the more relevant given the recent actions of the Singaporean regulator. Last month, MAS set a June 30 deadline for unlicensed crypto firms operating out of the city-state and serving overseas customers to cease offering such services. Over recent years, Singapore has been striving towards establishing itself as a global hub for crypto startups. It has been successful in that endeavor insofar as a whole host of international crypto businesses have established a presence there.  However, its recent move to curb unlicensed firms working out of Singapore in providing services internationally has been interpreted as a much more cautious approach being taken by the Singaporean authorities. The regulator clarified its concerns recently:”MAS has set the bar high for licensing and will generally not issue a licence. The money laundering risks are higher in such business models and if their substantive regulated activity is outside of Singapore, MAS is unable to effectively supervise such persons. Without a licence, such DTSPs [Digital Token Service Providers] will have to cease their regulated activities.”Caution in Singapore to benefit Hong KongSingapore has been competing with cities like Hong Kong to develop and maintain that crypto hub status. Some commentators have expressed the view that Hong Kong will benefit from this latest move in Singapore.  Joshua Chu, a lawyer who co-chairs the Hong Kong Web3 Association, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) recently that “this is likely to attract quality projects [to Hong Kong] looking for a compliant, liquid, and globally connected base.” In addition to licensing achieved in Asia, Bitstamp has acquired licensing in a number of European countries such as Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands. Last month, Robinhood launched the trading of tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for users resident within the European Union (EU). It also revealed that it is in the process of building out a layer-2 network on top of the Arbitrum blockchain with a view towards using it to host tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

Research Center Highlights Overvaluation in Overseas Crypto Holdings Reported to Korean Tax AgencyThe Korbit Research Center, affiliated with one of South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Korbit, has raised questions about the size of overseas cryptocurrency holdings reported by Korean individuals and businesses to the National Tax Service.Photo by REDioACTIVE on PixabayThe issue of market-making activitiesThe center noted that following the 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) boom, many enterprises that issued cryptocurrencies through offshore entities might still be holding onto their native tokens. This would have resulted from their inability to distribute these tokens to the market after the speculative bubble burst. The center believes these reported values could have been influenced by the issuers’ market-making activities, possibly inflating their worth.According to the National Tax Service, Korean individuals and corporations hold a total of KRW 130.8 trillion (around $98 billion) in overseas crypto accounts. Notably, 73% (KRW 120 trillion) of this sum is held by 73 corporate entities.Highlighting a critical aspect of cryptocurrency valuation, the Korbit Research Center pointed out that when tokens are priced based on market-making activities, they may be overvalued. They further underscored that even if the true value of overseas holdings by these entities is only a tenth of the reported sum, a figure like KRW 12 trillion is still substantial.Retail investors seeking overseas optionsFurthermore, the center touched on retail investors, noting that the KRW 10 trillion in their offshore accounts indicates a gap in services offered by Korean crypto enterprises. It suggests that individual investors might be exploring foreign markets due to domestic limitations like the absence of derivatives and lending options.Given the borderless nature of the crypto industry, Korean individuals readily turn to overseas services that cater to their needs. The Korbit Research Center estimates a KRW 10 trillion unmet demand in the domestic crypto sector, suggesting that stringent local regulations might be driving capital outflows.

MaskEX Gets Initial Regulatory Approval in UAEThe online cryptocurrency trading platform and wallet provider, MaskEX has been given initial regulatory approval by a regulator in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Photo by Carlos Alberto Gómez Iñiguez on UnsplashThe trading platform received outline approval from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai, where the company is headquartered. While the business has been around since 2021, this first compliance step is significant as it seeks to build and extend its footprint within the UAE and the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.Regulatory significanceTo say that regulation has lagged the development of crypto assets on a global basis is an understatement. However, the high profile and spectacular crypto business failures in 2022 have really captured the attention of regulators and lawmakers. Many point to inadequate regulation as a key cause of those failures. With that, most regulators recognize that it won’t be acceptable to the broader public to have such a loss impact on ordinary investors in a rerun of the collapses of 2022.VARA has been one of the most proactive regulators in that respect. The Authority has developed a regulatory framework, culminating in its current licensing regimen for crypto businesses. It wouldn’t have been feasible for MaskEX to trade without obtaining regulatory approval.Regulatory actionIn February, VARA issued Open Exchange (OPNX), a platform that specializes in the trading of crypto bankruptcy claims, with a cease and desist order, relative to the establishment of that business in Dubai. Last month, the Regulatory Authority issued an investor alert related to OPNX, warning the investing public that OPNX was not regulated by them and that investing in or using the platform was risky.That culminated with VARA sending OPNXs founders and CEO a formal warning letter. With that sort of action playing out, it’s no surprise that MaskEX has tried to go the compliant route, acquiring that initial approval.The firm is not alone in taking that approach. On May 1, BitOasis, another crypto trading platform headquartered in Dubai, became the first entity to be awarded a broker-dealer license.This milestone event for MaskEX means that it can now complete entity formation, expand its team, secure banking services and generally, open for business. In its application MaskEX requested permission to engage in the activity of acting as an exchange, offer borrowing and lending services, as well as to act as a broker and crypto asset manager.Crypto market to be driven by ME and Central AsiaOn social media on Thursday, MaskEXs VP and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Ben Caselin, said that the initial approval forms part of the firm’s application for a Full Market Product (FMP) license. Caselin used the opportunity to post a video offering a sneak peek at the firm’s new Dubai offices. “MaskEX will be the first crypto exchange to publicly disclose their headquarters and even allow the general public to visit,” he said.Speaking at Finoverse Arabia this week, Caselin also said that “the next crypto bull market is once again going to be driven by Asia, and the unsurprising surprise will come from the Middle East and Central Asia.” That’s a prediction that’s being floated by quite a number of industry commentators, and with the US shooting itself in the foot in its approach to digital assets, it sounds like a reasonable prediction.