Crypto regulation has been flagged as one of the major priorities for lawmakers across the globe for this year following the incidents of the past year.
Recent incidents cite Morocco, a North African country bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, might introduce its first crypto bill in the coming days. The country’s central bank already wrote the document, which will soon be discussed with the industry stakeholders.
On Wednesday, Abdellatif Jouahiri, governor of Al-Maghrib (BAM), the central bank of Morocco, announced a series of discussions between the BAM and the market participants.
The discussions would also include regulators like the Moroccan Capital Markets Authority (AMMC), the Insurance Supervisory Authority, and Social Security (ACAPS) to share their opinions on implementing the crypto law.
As per the central bank governor, the BAM collaborated with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to develop the document. In addition, sources reveal that Moroccan officials contacted the central banks of France, Sweden, and Switzerland to study their regulatory experience with digital assets.
The prepared document will define crypto applicable to the Moroccan context and aim to protect individuals while not restricting innovation. Although the details related to the bill weren’t released, it couldn’t be any more restrictive than the existing legislation, which banned crypto trading.
In 2022, Morocco became the fastest-growing crypto hub in Northern Africa as its population holding crypto increased from 2.4% in 2021 to 3.1% a year later. In 2020, Soluna, a leading developer of green data centers for batchable-focused computing, installed the first blockchain-powered wind farm in Dakhla, the country’s southern and mist windy district. The excess energy of this farm powers the crypto-mining operations.
There has been a constant rise in crypto adoption and usage in African nations. Todayq News reported that the number of cryptocurrency transactions by users from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) increased by 48% to $566 billion between July 2021 and June 2022.
The coming months and the whole of 2023 will likely be dynamic for crypto regulations as leading economies worldwide have acknowledged the importance of efficient regulation which prevents miscreants but paves the way for innovation. Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and numerous others, are developing their plan for the sector’s regulation.