Estonia and the US Partners to Regulate Crypto

“The U.S. is one of the most important partners in the field of security in Estonia, and also in financial matters. We highly value cooperation with the U.S. in the prevention of money laundering, including their advice on risk analysis systems.”

According to a recent news article, Estonia finance minister, Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, has stated that the government is eager to work with the United States to establish new legislation aimed at monitoring cryptocurrency transactions.

According to the source, the finance minister made the remarks during a video chat with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the topic of implementing new digital asset legislation.

The meeting also included a discussion of the global tax reform proposal led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which Estonia joined in October.

So far, 130 countries and jurisdictions have signed on to the OECD’s tax reform initiative, which intends to stop banks, digital asset enterprises, and multinational corporations from evading taxes.

The tax agreement law, according to Minister Pentus-Rosimannus, will be presented to the country’s parliamentary body, the ‘Riigikogu,’ and if enacted, will help identify and eliminate the “anonymity” of cryptocurrency transactions, including Bitcoin and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The minister stated that she is urging the United States to work with Estonia to develop legislation that will support the fast expanding crypto business.

Estonia was one of the first countries to regulate the cryptocurrency business; in 2017, the North-Eastern country began providing licenses to cryptocurrency exchanges.

To prevent future financial fraud, the country’s financial officials revealed that over 500 exchanges had their licenses revoked.

The decision was motivated, according to the regulators, by a $230 billion money laundering scheme involving the Estonian branch of Denmark’s largest lender, Danske Bank A/S.

Despite the bank’s denials, reports reveal that the bank allowed the transaction to take place for its own benefit.

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