A new report from the United Nations provides an interesting insight into today’s crypto market. The UN published this because the organization is concerned about the lack of regulation, as this is not yet the case in many countries. Crypto is widely adopted everywhere.
The United Nations Conference on trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released a new policy note on crypto. This shows that there are crypto investors in almost every country. According to the study, this is mainly due to the corona crisis, a time when many people found their way to crypto.
‘Global use of cryptocurrencies increased exponentially during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Such private digital currencies are especially widespread in developing countries, which entails significant risks and costs for national monetary sovereignty, policy space and macroeconomic stability.’
This is not always the case, says the UN. “If no control is exercised, cryptocurrencies could become a widespread means of payment and even unofficially replace domestic currencies (a process called cryptoization), which could jeopardize the monetary sovereignty of countries,” the report said.
Countries like El Salvador and the Central African Republic are thus examples of this cryptoization. Both countries have adopted bitcoin as legal tender in the past 12 months.
The UN gives all kinds of tips in this report to limit the risks of crypto. It includes recommendations like taxing crypto and banning ads on social media.
News platform Finbold calls India, a country where 7.3% of residents invest in crypto, a country that is ” at the forefront of global cryptocurrency regulation.” Here, one “regulates” crypto by taxing it with 30% profit tax and 1% tax on each transaction. Whether this works out so well is a second question.
If the Indian government wants to crush crypto, it will certainly succeed. The volume of trade in India dropped dramatically after the introduction of 30% tax. In the worst case, a drop of 55% was noted.
Percentages in other countries
The study also highlights how many other countries are investing in crypto. This has been shown by the UNCTAD in a graph, with Ukraine, probably due to the war, at the top with 12.7%.