Lithuania, the European state, has recently unveiled comprehensive guidelines, “ICO Guidelines”, that outlines regulations for both cryptocurrencies and ICOs within the country.

The report covers four topics; regulation, taxation, accounting, and Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). The Lithuanian Minister of Finance, Vilius Šapoka did explain that the report is not exhaustive and whenever a discrepancy exists between the guidelines and institutions, the latter will take precedent. Vilius Šapoka had an overall positive attitude about cryptocurrencies saying that they “acknowledge that the brave new crypto economy world is here to stay” and thus want to “encourage and invite its participants to innovate and create in Lithuania”.

The report recognizes the differences between the many possible ICO structures and thus states that each will be regulated differently and may even be “subject to the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania and supervision of the Bank of Lithuania”. As for corporate and personal income taxes, cryptocurrencies are to be treated as “current assets that can be used as a settlement instrument for goods and services or stored for sale”. For VAT (Value Added Taxes) cryptocurrencies are to be treated as “the same currency as euros, dollars etc” and taxed at 15%, but mining will be exempt since “no goods/services are usually supplied for consideration”. For accounting and AML/CFT standards, the classification “of tokens circulated by the token promoter depends on whether they are attributed to payment, utility and securities tokens”, the document said, and amendments to the 5th AML Directive are currently being developed.

A Baltic Tiger hunts for prosperity through innovation

The three Baltic nations, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are know as The Baltic Tigers for their rapid economic growth after achieving independence from the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The reason for their rapid growth was their continuous acceptance of free and open markets. Currently, Lithuania ranks #19 on the Index of Economic Freedom, which is only one spot behind the United States. This pursuit of free markets also allowed them to recover very quickly from the 2007/2008 economic crisis that hit Europe. The new cryptocurrency regulations indicates that Lithuania is taking a history lesson from itself to make sure free markets prevail, in order to foster innovation and economic prosperity in the cryptocurrency era.

The guidelines that were issued by Lithuania still place regulations and taxes on cryptocurrencies and ICOs, but it is a step towards more free markets when compared to other countries that have taken a more harsh stance against cryptocurrencies. Countries that have created a favorable environment for cryptocurrencies are allowing the creative energies of numerous individuals to disrupt the old financial and monetary system. Cryptocurrencies offer an alternative to the status quo of high fees, long transaction clearing times, insufficient security, and manipulation of the money supply. Thus, consumers benefit from allowing cryptocurrency innovation, which includes some of the most poor individuals disenfranchised by the old financial and monetary system.

Dash seeks innovation with transparency

Since Dash is a microcosm for a wider free market within its treasury system, individuals are able to pursue different projects that they believe are important to consumers. A major project that stands out is Node40, which deals with cryptocurrency tax compliance, but there is also Alt36 that deals with marijuana, and Neptune Dash that deals with fractional masternode ownership traded on regulated exchanges. The regulatory compliance that is required with these projects highlights how individuals within the Dash community are committed to working within the current regulatory framework to make Dash successful for everyday consumers that, ultimately, have to work within the confines of governmental laws.

The decentralization of projects allows Dash to demonstrate transparency to government regulators while it simultaneously pursues consistently low transaction fees, fast confirmation times, security, and sound money. This allows Dash to offer radical monetary and financial independence to consumers around the world, many of whom desperately need such features to live a better life. The above features give Dash the ability to demonstrate to potential regulators that Dash is legitimately trying to help consumers and debunk any fears they may have of Dash being used for nefarious purposes. This allows Dash’s developers to focus on innovation to offer the best possible services for consumers.