The Nordics remain a cold place for crypto, but Estonia still leads as the public blockchain adopter.
The Nordics remain a cold place for crypto, but Estonia still leads as the public blockchain adopter.
Despite the turbulence that broke out in the crypto market this summer, there is an important long-term marker that should be considered in any complex assessment — the combination of adoption and regulation. The latest report by EUBlockchain Observatory, named “EU Blockchain Ecosystem Developments,” tries to measure this combination within the European Union, combining the data on each and every member country from Portugal to Slovakia.
As the original report counts more than 200 pages, Cointelegraph prepared a summary with the intent to capture the most vital information about the state of crypto and blockchain in Europe. Cointelegraph started from a group of countries that are usually labeled as Western European and continues with a review of Northern European states.
Sweden
Numbers: $39.9 million (40 million euros) raised in initial coin offerings (ICOs), 15 blockchain startups launched.
Regulation and legislation: According to the report, the country still lacks any definite crypto and blockchain legislation: “One must often use the existing legal framework and force blockchain to fit within that framework.” The principal supervisory authorities in the country are the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and the Swedish Data Protection Agency.
Taxes: While the report lacks any information about the tax regime regarding crypto in the country, the local tax advisers specify that capital gains from selling crypto are subject to a 30% tax.
Notable initiatives: The Swedish land-ownership authority Lantmäteriet began testing blockchain technology in 2016, which resulted in a pilot project to develop future real estate transactions by using smart contracts. In June 2018, developers completed the first successful transaction on the platform. Together with Nasdaq, one of Sweden’s major banks, SEB, initiated the Nordic Fund Ledger — a consortium to improve mutual fund trading by applying blockchain. An initiative should have been launched in 2020, but by the publishing time, there is no evidence it did.
Local players: 3Box, a decentralized user data storage system, AIAR, an Ethereum-based education platform, and Bitrefill, a digital gift card and mobile airtime provider that accepts crypto as a payment method.
Denmark
Numbers: $32.4 million (32.5 million euros) of total funds raised by blockchain projects, 24 blockchain startups.
Regulation and legislation: Denmark has no laws specifically addressing cryptocurrencies. In 2021, Danske Bank, the largest bank in Denmark, stated that it won’t offer any cryptocurrency services to customers itself, but also that it wouldn’t interfere with transactions coming from crypto platforms.
Taxes: According to Coincub, crypto gains incur an income tax of around 37%: “If you’re a high earner, your crypto gains — as part of your overall income — could go up to 52% tax.”
Notable initiatives: In 2018, Copenhagen-based shipping giant Maersk and IBM announced the launch of TradeLens, a blockchain-enabled shipping solution designed to promote more efficient and secure global trade.
Local players: As the report specifies, perhaps the most important names among the Danish crypto startups would be the ones that were established in the country but registered in other jurisdictions, such as Chainalysis, Blockshipping and MakerDAO.
Finland
Numbers: 18 blockchain startups
Regulation and legislation: The chief supervisory authority for everything crypto-related in the country is the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority. In 2019, the Act on Virtual Currency Providers came into effect. It demands registration from any entity that aims at Finnish customers while providing or marketeering its crypto-related services. The Virtual Currency Act does not draw any distinctions between different types of digital currencies.
Taxes: Profits from the exchange or sale of crypto are subject to capital gains tax, which makes up 30% of the income not exceeding $29,922 (30,000 euros) and 34% on the excess above this limit.
Notable initiatives: Back in 2018, the Finnish government announced the collaboration with Essentia to build blockchain-based solutions for smart logistics.
Local players: SOMA (SOcial MArketplace), a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) platform on Ethereum for trading and exchange of physical goods, LocalBitcoins, a P2P platform for digital currencies, and Haja Networks, a developer of distributed and decentralized database solutions based on blockchain solutions.
Norway
Numbers: $26.9 million (27 millions euros) of total equity funding, 22 blockchain solution providers.
Regulation and legislation: The advisory and supervisory authorities regarding blockchain and crypto are the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), Norges Bank and the Norwegian Tax Authority….
cointelegraph.com