Another successful conference at Highgate Law & Tax

We have had another successful conference at Highgate Law & Tax. Nearly 150 attendees are proof that crypto is no longer a topic for a small circle of new technology enthusiasts, but is becoming a firm part of the financial sector. A few observations from the conference on the current legal and tax position of cryptoassets: 📌 Cryptoassets are (indirectly so far) increasingly becoming an accepted investment asset even for established regulated investment funds; 📌 Even financial institutions (which are already gradually being prepared for the inclusion of cryptoassets in their portfolios) (which are allowed by MiCA Regulation to provide certain cryptoasset services on a notification-only basis); 📌 The part of the regulation (especially income tax) that is not harmonised, again for crypto, lags far behind the regulation coming from the EU. Our tax and accounting legislation has not kept pace at all with where the cryptoassets market is; 📌 The problem of opening bank accounts for cryptoasset service providers in Slovakia is likely to be solved only when these entities obtain a licence (which puts them in a paradoxical position in terms of meeting the prudential requirements for obtaining this licence); 📌 The market in the provision of cryptoasset services will be significantly cleansed after next year. On the one hand, this is a natural consequence of the fundamentally higher requirements for the provision of these services under the MiCA Regulation; on the other hand, the sector will naturally standardise. The current number of licenses for OCPs, crowdfunding platforms or AIFMs can tell us in the medium term how many licensed cryptoasset service providers we can expect in Slovakia. After all, the first license for DLT infrastructure in the Czech Republic only definitively testifies to the blending of traditional financial instruments with the world of cryptoassets. Again, a big thank you to Peter Varga and Tomas Demo for the opportunity to speak at the conference. We will continue to actively cover crypto on our separate linkedin profile Highgate Crypto.