The Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) is working to regulate companies that provide services virtual assets, generating encouraging opinions in the sector.
The new regulations will be added to the Act 20,345, which was approved in 2024 to regulate the sector. This is the seventh edition of the Blockchain Summit Global, held at Montevideo, and was announced by Patricia Tudisco, the Mayor of the BCU’s financial regulations.
Officials explained that The new regulations aim to distinguish between two types of virtual assets: Finance and non-financial. This distinction determines which obligations comply with the platforms that operate them.
Although the central banks did not publish a definition of this distinction, Tudisco said that Stablecoins are entered as financial virtual assets, while Bitcoins (BTC) are classified as non-financial.
In a dialogue with Cryptootics, Uruguayan lawyer Juan Diana, financial regulatory expert; The new classification is described as a success Proposed by the Central Bank of Uruguay.
“This distinction is correct and follows the mission established by the Virtual Assets Act… It is important to understand that BCU Organic Charters establish different levels of regulatory depending on the type of financial institution, from the prudential and macro aspects of the system to more specific definitions such as information to consumers and consumers, and prevention of money landing.”
He also added that in the case of virtual asset services suppliers (PSAVs), the law deposited the largest regulatory load on those who provide virtual assets classified as “financial” (FT), the latter deposited in line with the International Financial Conduct Group (GAFI) recommendations.
Therefore, Diana explained it to this medium In Uruguay, there are various levels or regulatory loads of PSAV Whether financial assets are involved.
“This could create greater incentives for the marketing and use of Bitcoin, ether, or other virtual exchange assets, as regulatory entities are called, as professional intermediaries of these virtual assets need to meet the aspects only in terms of prevention of /ft,” he said.
But Diana warned me about it too. “This difference could ultimately generate certain types of regulatory arbitration that are worthy of a review of current law, with the aim of covering all PSAVs under the same umbrella and regulatory load.”
According to the specialists, virtual exchange assets are essentially all cryptocurrencies.
He recalled that in 2021, the BCU produced a report containing the classification. Classify virtual assets into several categories. These include “virtual assets value” that grants you financial rights such as property and participation in future profits, and “utilities virtual assets” that allow you to access specific products or services, such as fan tokens.
It also includes “stable virtual assets” and is designed to minimize volatility by supporting assets or algorithmic mechanisms that maintain a stable price. Finally, there are “virtual exchange assets” that are used as a means of exchange or investment, including examples such as Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) rather than granting specific rights or access.
On his part, Ignacio Baleze, co-founder of Blockchain Summit Global and CEO of Block Bear, has assured crypto that regulations “represent positive advancements for the industry.” In his opinion, “Providing legal certainty is key to creating trust in the sector, in addition to helping to promote and attract investment.”
Varese He emphasized a major advance in explicit recognition of Bitcoin within the new framework.. “There has been no formal recognition of this type up until now, so this step represents an important milestone in regulatory treatment,” he said.
For entrepreneurs, “Differentiated approaches between financial assets, such as stubcoins, which are typically linked to traditional financial systems, and non-financial approaches, such as Bitcoin, which have no direct relationship with traditional financial systems assets, allow for more proportional regulation and refuse to impose unnecessary obligations of less exposure.
Additionally, they actively evaluated the opening of regulators. “From the central bank itself, it’s very positive that this is the beginning, the frame is flexible and that it can evolve over time… This is the first positive step for Uruguay and I think it feels the basis for gradually building positive regulations on the crypto ecosystem.”