The Uruguay Blockchain Chamber criticized the regulatory project that aims to regulate virtual asset services (PSAV) in the country, which has already been submitted to public consultation by the Superintendence of Financial Services (SSF).
According to a recent statement, The proposed regulation could be very rigid and unclear for small businesses and creators of cryptocurrency projects.
In its document, the group indicates that the protagonists of the space “need clear and fair rules, and an excessive remission of analogy as an integration tool is observed.”
In addition, they explain that The brief term granted to respond to public consultation hinders a deep analysis on “the scope, impact, legality and convenience of the various proposed and/or already in force.”
In this sense, the camera warns A too broad definition of financial virtual assetswhich “could generate legal and operational uncertainty” and even cover assets that are not intended to have an economic character, such as Utility Tokens – digital instruments that give access to a product or service within a specific platform – and certain NFT (non -fungible tokens) with functional use.
In accordance with the provisions of the document, this amplitude could impose “excessive requirements of compliance with projects that are not financial”, which would discourage local innovation.
Another questioned aspect is the unique and rigid authorization for all financial asset services (PSAV) providers, which does not differentiate between the size of the companies or the volume of their transactions.
The Chamber warns that this could “make the operation unfeasible” to small firms, by demanding high monetary guarantees, and instead proposes a gradual regulation that hardens “as the company grows, similar to the experience in the field of payment systems in Uruguay.”
In addition, The absence of a space that can be considered as a regulatory sandbox is a factor indicated as problematic. The entity explains that this lack “prevents entrepreneurs from carrying out their low -risk controlled pilots,” affecting the development of new technologies and the “principle of equality of administered, constitutionally protected.”
Regulation and challenges for digital creators
On the other hand, the application of the prevention regulations for money laundering and terrorism financing (AML/CFT) to non -custodial platforms, such as wallets and decentralized exchanges, is question «Know Your Costumer » (KYC) to each user ».
Thus, in him document It is stipulated that this requirement could disproportionately affect non -financial service providers, such as digital artists and creators of NFT, demanding them to comply with rules that do not fit the nature of their activities, putting at risk the economic viability of their projects.
Finally, the group proposes that the PSAV regulation project incorporates territoriality criteria to define when a supplier must be subject to Uruguayan regulations, and suggests more flexible rules for those entities that operate exclusively outside Uruguay.
Meanwhile, financial specialists also warn about the ambiguity of the project. As Cryptonotics reported, Dr. Juan Diana Romero said that, although the initiative constitutes an advance in the formalization of the sector, it incorporates unclear concepts that could complicate its interpretation and generate regulatory gaps.
According to Romero’s analysis, the distinction between financial and non -financial virtual assets, although correct in theory, is not sufficiently defined, which could lead to regulatory arbitrations and the need for future modifications.