The Central Bank of Egypt has just drafted a new law for the country, which rules that a mandatory operations license is needed for conducting any further advertising or business related dealings with the crypto industry. The trading process of cryptos will also be under the jurisdiction of the license, but whether or not it is on a corporate or individual level, is not known yet.
Should the bill be widely accepted in the country, the Central Bank of Egypt will have the opportunity to draft future guidelines for handling, trading, storing and regulating cryptocurrencies in the MENA region, which is currently notorious for banning all forms of crypto operations.
As it seems, Egypt managed to see through their ban, by acknowledging the importance of fintech companies in their country. Better late than never, as fintech dependance on a different entity tends to rack up costs faster than it generates them.
Regulatory framework on the way
The regulation is being drafted as we speak, but the country’s government and the representatives of the Central bank of Egypt, need to first convene on the best approach for their country’s reality. The new bill will ensure the submission of the blockchain industry until a tangible set of laws is implemented.
The development of the license is a clear move from Egypt towards the digital economy that has been taking most western countries by storm. The confirmation of digital checks, payments as well as more complicated procedures such as exclusive discounts and inflation calculations needed some kind of space to operate.
The sentiment towards cryptocurrencies has been shifting for quite a while for Egypt as it had been considering blockchain feasibility in the region since December 2018. The main issue that they wanted to tackle was the ever-growing complication of printing banknotes.
The less expensive it is to “create” money, the less devastating the caused inflation would be to the nation’s economy. Furthermore, moving to a cashless society provides much more tools for maintaining the overall wealth in the region.
The regulation of cryptocurrencies in Egypt should not be expected until the end of 2019, but the license should suffice until that time arrives.
