Markets
Lithuania moves to tighten oversight of cryptocurrency market
Lithuania’s Seimas (parliament) has voted to tighten oversight of virtual currency – or cryptoasset – businesses.
Lawmakers adopted the respective amendments to the Crypto Asset Markets Law and accompanying legislation in a 101-0 vote with five abstentions, News.Az reports citing Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT).
The amendments provide for a transition period to adapt to the European Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA). Lithuania is one of the first countries in the European Union to implement these provisions.
Market participants will have until June 2025 to prepare and obtain licenses. Until then, virtual currency operators will have to submit the documents required by the MiCA Regulation to the Central Bank of Lithuania.
“They will become companies on an equal footing with other financial institutions operating under the same requirements. Uniform rules in the EU will generally lead to a more equal competitive environment for these companies and make their migration from one EU country to another less significant,” Mindaugas Lingė, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee, told BNS on the eve of the vote.
According to him, regulating cryptocurrency markets will clarify the industry and the competitive environment.
The Bank of Lithuania estimates that more than 100 companies could apply for licenses – about a sixth of those currently operating.