Finland and Cryptocurrency

It is legal in Finland to buy, sell and use cryptocurrency.  On October 4, 2018 the Government of Finland released the Government Proposal 167/2018 (“HE 167/2018”) that proposes to regulate cryptocurrency providers.[1]  The Act on Virtual Currency Providers went into effect on May 1, 2019.[2]

Digital Currency – Blockchains

In accordance with the act, the Financial Supervisory Authority (Fin-FSA) will act as the registration authority and supervisory authority for virtual currency providers.[3]  Registration is required for “virtual currency exchange services,” “custodian wallet providers,” and “issuers of virtual currencies.”[4] These providers must comply with certain statutory requirements, for example, “they must be reliable and able to hold and protect client money.”[5] They must also segregate client money from their own funds and comply with anti-money laundering regulations and CFT regulations.[6] The Act is based on the European Union’s anti-money laundering legislation and seeks to bring virtual currency providers within the scope of anti-money laundering regulation, in line with the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5th AMLD).[7]

P.S. Insights on Cryptocurrency Legal Issues

Most jurisdictions and authorities have yet to enact laws governing cryptocurrencies, meaning that, for most countries, the legality of crypto mining remains unclear.

Under the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), crypto miners are considered money transmitters, so they may be subject to the laws that govern that activity. In Israel, for instance, crypto mining is treated as a business and is subject to corporate income tax. In India and elsewhere, regulatory uncertainty persists, although Canada and the United States are relatively friendly to crypto mining.

However, apart from jurisdictions that have specifically banned cryptocurrency-related activities, very few countries prohibit crypto mining.

Our Freeman Law Cryptocurrency Law Resource page provides a summary of the legal status of cryptocurrency for each country across the globe with statutory or regulatory provisions governing cryptocurrency.  The globe below provides links to country-by-country summaries:

Is cryptocurrency legal in Finland?

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[1] Upcoming Cryptocurrency Providers Act of Finland, Nordic Law, (Jan. 14, 2019), https://nordiclaw.fi/upcoming-cryptocurrency-providers-act-of-finland/.

[2] Kevin Helms, Finland Begins Regulating Crypto Service Providers, Bitcoin.com, (Apr. 27, 2019), https://news.bitcoin.com/finland-regulating-cryptocurrency/.

[3] Virtual currency providers to be supervised by the FIN-FSA – briefing for virtual currency providers on 15 May, FIN-FSA, (April 26, 2019), https://www.finanssivalvonta.fi/en/publications-and-press-releases/supervision-releases/2019/virtual-currency-providers-to-be-supervised-by-the-fin-fsa–briefing-for-virtual-currency-providers-on-15-may/.

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.