Crypto Regulations in Serbia
Currently, in Serbia, there is no regulation specifically regulating blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. General laws governing the capital market, foreign exchange, anti-money laundering, payment services, tax, etc. are applicable to blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies as well.
Source: JPM
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.
Source: Freeman Law
There are currently no border restrictions or obligations to declare cryptocurrency holdings under Serbian law.
Source: Global Ilegal Insights
…Serbia’s “Law on Digital Assets” (LDA) became effective. The law legalizes cryptocurrency trading and mining. Additionally, the LDA encourages cryptocurrency service providers to obtain licenses and authorization from Serbian authorities to operate within the country. Although acquiring a proper license is encouraged, licensing is not always required to provide advisory services relating to cryptocurrency in Serbia. Nevertheless, cryptocurrency service providers are provided six months to comply with the LDA.
Source: Freeman Law
In the meantime, the Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of Serbia passed a Decision on the implementation of the provisions of the Law on Digital Assets relating to the granting of licenses for the provision of services related to virtual currencies and the consent of the National Bank of Serbia.
Source: Gurcan Partners
In Serbia, there are four different taxes that may govern cryptocurrency: (1) Value Added Taxes (VATs); (2) Corporate income taxes; (3) Personal income taxes; and (4) Property taxes. Recently, the Serbian government amended its existing tax law to specifically address cryptocurrency. These amendments discussed below become effective on July 1st, 2021.
Source: Freeman Law
The tax treatment of digital property in Serbia will begin on June 29, 2021, simultaneously with the beginning of applying the Law on Digital Property. However, this refers particularly to the taxation of personal income, corporate profits, and the VAT treatment of digital property transactions. Tax provisions regarding the digital property acquired through inheritance and gifts have already come into force, as of January 1, 2021.
Source: Gurcan Partners
Digital assets, or virtual assets, means a digital representation of value that can be digitally bought, sold, exchanged, or transferred and used as a means of exchange or for investment purposes, whereby digital assets shall not include a digital representation of fiat currencies and other financial assets governed by other laws unless otherwise provided by this Law.
Source: NBS
The Law defines digital assets as a digital record of value that can be digitally stored and transferred. Basic modes of digital assets transfer include sale for money and exchange for things. All digital assets constitute the subject matter of regulation irrespective of the underlying technology. The legal definition, however, excludes digital records of currency which is recognized legal tender as well as financial assets governed by another law.
Source: Law Firm
With gaming and blockchain as focal points, the Serbian startup ecosystem attracts record levels of investments. Last year, the most notable investments in the ecosystem were made in blockchain development platform Tenderly ($58.6M), people analytics platform Orgnostic ($5M), computation platform Anari AI ($2M), offensive security testing startup Trickest ($1.4M), and Tempus ($27.9M in token sales).
Source: The Cursive
A Serbian man has been extradited from Serbia to the United States to face allegations that he and others duped investors out of more than $70 million, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah. Serbian authorities arrested Antonije Stojilkovic, 32, pursuant to a U.S. provisional arrest request on July 24, 2020 in Belgrade. Stojilkovic subsequently consented to extradition. On Feb. 4, 2021, the FBI completed the removal of Stojilkovic from Serbia to the Northern District of Texas.
Source: justice.gov
The action day, which took place in Belgrade and Sofia, went ahead on 2 April despite the current lockdown. Law enforcement authorities from Bulgaria and Serbia carried out 11 house searches and arrested 9 individuals (5 in Serbia and 4 in Bulgaria). Two of the leaders of the criminal network were arrested in Sofia. The seizures include five properties in Serbia, €2.5 million from a bank account in Germany, electronic equipment, and other evidential material. Additionally, 30 other bank accounts were put under surveillance.
Source: Europol Europa
The National Bank of Serbia is launching a ‘regulatory sandbox framework’, while the National Bank of North Macedonia has established an ‘innovation hub’ and is extending the cooperation and coordination to other national regulators in view of the future EU membership and PSD2 compliance.
Source: Micro Finanza
