The cryptocurrency space has grown tremendously over the last decade. What only five years ago was effectively a non-existing industry is now an integral part of our technological present and future. Cryptocurrencies and tokens are a billion-dollar industry on their own and there is a whole universe of private, blockchain-based solutions being implemented by companies worldwide.
Distributed ledgers, whether permissionless or permissioned, are now indispensable in the modern world.
The wide variety of crypto assets that are managed by this novel type of systems are a part of life for hundreds of millions of users worldwide. This is only the beginning. This decade crypto assets will further penetrate the mainstream and will win over many millions more.
Regulating Crypto
For the commercialization of crypto assets to happen, they need to become more comprehendible and less menacing to the average user. The exploitative sub-culture of “pump and dump” schemes, token-based pyramid structures, "rug pulls", and various scams needs to be suppressed so that the real societal, technological, and financial value of blockchain-based assets becomes non-debatable.
At @O2K, we believe that that task will be accomplished in two ways:
- Industry self-regulation - development of industry-wide best practices on transparency, risk management, consumer protection, and customer identification. The global crypto industry is posed to develop and apply its own solutions to the above challenges without sacrificing the foundational principles of trustlessness, inclusiveness, privacy, predictability, immutability, and openness on which its main value propositions are based.
- The second, more immediate approach to making crypto assets a mainstream reality will be a traditional one - regulation by national, supranational, and international bodies.
That process has already started with numerous jurisdictions globally looking into the idiosyncrasies of crypto assets and making them fit into existing legal frameworks.
Although efforts at coordination and standardization of regulatory treatment exist, those are inefficient and can rarely overcome expressions of sovereignty by governing bodies. The fragmentation of approaches for dealing with crypto assets is perhaps most striking when we look at taxation regimes.
Taxation is challenging in a globalized and digitalized world, but the technological complexity and novelty of cryptocurrencies, paired with the general lack of even rudimentary definitions of their formal standing within many jurisdictions lead to a legal quagmire.
This translates into problems on both sides: tax authorities and individuals trading, investing, or creating crypto assets.
@O2K's Mission
We launched @O2K to help professionals in the European Union and around the world to untangle the often dumbfounding puzzles and escape the financially costly minefields created by an industry that is slow to self-regulate and governmental bodies that frequently lack the capacity and rarely have the willingness to grant entrepreneurs and investors the certainty of compliance.
We educate, consult, and train on crypto asset compliance.
How do we do it?
Online Courses
We are currently recording the first two-course bundles in our Ultimate Guide to Taxation and Regulation of Crypto Assets. The Beginner-level one is already out and the second one - Key Taxable Events in the Crypto Industry - is coming out in August 2022. The next ones will cover decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), money laundering and crime, and country-specific case studies.
With our online courses, we want to help a wide range of professionals understand both - the philosophy and technology behind cryptocurrencies and their taxation-related aspects. That is why the content of each bundle is divided into two courses - one that provides an overview of the crypto assets, technology, applications, and financial mechanisms that exist in the space, and one that focuses on the regulatory and taxation-specific consequences of user-related actions.
The Ultimate Guide to Taxation and Regulation of Crypto Assets will provide a solid fundament for public officials, policy-makers, tax lawyers, and in-house professionals.
Our Beginner, Intermediary, and Advanced courses (including the anti-money laundering and crime bundle) aim to establish solid fundamentals for anyone who has or wants to have crypto assets. They are created to be assimilated easily by anyone. No background in crypto asset technology or (tax) law is required.
Webinars
With the goal of both education and brand development, we plan to launch a series of FREE online events focused on crypto assets starting this September. We will host professionals from
- leading crypto compliance companies;
- national authorities;
- taxation industry;
- law enforcement agencies;
- digital asset standardization organizations;
- crypto businesses;
- and decentralized autonomous organizations.
Our first webinar will be announced this month.
Publications
From coverage of European Union-specific regulatory developments including the:
- Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA),
- Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR),
- Anti-Money Laundering Package (AMLD6 and AMLR),
- Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC8),
- DeFi report,
- and the Supervision pilot,
to international initiatives from inter-governmental bodies like the:
- Financial Action Task Force (FATF),
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
- and the Financial Stability Board,
our blog will have it all.
Expect our first blog post collaboration with our partners from 21Analytics next week. The topic will be "What is the Travel Rule for Crypto and Does it Apply to My Business?"
Trainings
We know that both - small and medium-sized enterprises and national authorities do not always have the in-house expertise required to stay up to date with technological advancements and novel practices in the crypto space and their related compliance implications.
We offer extensive training (in-person and online) featuring customized agendas that will keep your team in the know about major trends in the blockchain space.
Consultations
If you are struggling with a specific case and require an on-one-on consultation, we offer that too. Just head to the Contact us page and get in touch. We will be happy to jump on a call and discuss how we can help you in the most efficient way possible.
News Updates
Finally, we are also working on establishing a weekly schedule of video updates about the most important regulatory developments in the past 7 days. We plan to launch this service after the end of August 2022.
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Expect our next "truth bomb" next week.
Meanwhile, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and/or Facebook and get crypto asset regulation and taxation updates several times per week.
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