Crypto Becomes More Strictly Regulated in Lithuania

Lithuania is preparing to revise its Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing with the stated goal of ensuring greater transparency and sustainable development for its cryptocurrency sector. This week, the government approved amendments that the small Baltic nation plans to adopt before the upcoming EU regulations.

The new provisions have been prepared by the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Lithuania, the Financial Crime Investigation Service, the Ministry of Interior, and the Lithuanian Money Laundering Prevention Competence Center. Their main purpose is to further regulate the operations of crypto service providers.

The draft law, which should be submitted to the Lithuanian parliament during the current session and enforced this year, is expected to introduce more detailed rules for customer identification and impose a ban on the opening of anonymous accounts. It will also increase the authorized capital required from service providers to €125,000.

Only permanent residents of Lithuania will be allowed to manage companies dealing with cryptocurrencies. Lithuanian regulators also want to make sure that these entities do not provide services or operate exclusively in other jurisdictions. The full list of registered operators of crypto exchange and custody platforms will be made public from Feb. 1, 2023.

Lithuania is also updating its regulations in response to the recent events in the region, in particular, the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. “The relevance of the proposals is strengthened by today's geopolitical environment - we must ensure that no attempt is made to circumvent Western sanctions on Russia by using crypto assets,” Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė emphasized.

Source: Bitcoin.com