According to the European Innovation Scoreboard, when it comes to innovation in the EU, Cyprus has an “enviable position.” Kyriacos Kokkinos, the country’s Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, gave the statements in a meeting with the local fintech community.
As per Cyprus mail, the minister drew a fine line between promoting technology and abiding to laws while Commenting on the future of digital assets in Cyprus.
I can tell you that Cyprus welcomes the use of digital and crypto assets, but we still need to be very careful and respect not only the regulations currently in place but also the absence of any regulations.
While referring to Malta, the government official said that its regulatory framework has attracted many cryptocurrencies centric companies and investors. He also said that it has led to increased investigations and scrutiny of several companies and banking institutions.
We have to be careful of the frameworks of the European Union since we are a member state
According to the minister, a “very attractive” bill has been drafted by the Cyprus government. He also said that interested parties can review it. A New York-based firm has also been assigned by the executive to assist Malta by implementing regulations.
Our challenge is not being aligned with the EU, it’s about the dilemma of whether to wait for the ECB to finalize their own regulatory framework or do we go alone on our own, with the former scenario also involving the possibility of that framework being overregulated.
The minister also acknowledged disagreements between the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC)and the government. He defended the government saying that CBC is subject to the ECB and central banks are being conservative. Hence the government’s job is to challenge them with productive debates to ultimately arrive at a solution.