How Cryptocurrency Is Regulated Around the World: A Comparative Overview

49 questions on how cryptocurrency is regulated around the world, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are software developers and DeFi protocols money transmitters?
• Can a token stop being a security as its network matures?
• Do crypto businesses need state licenses in addition to federal registration?
• Does the Howey test govern all crypto securities questions?
• Has Congress resolved the SEC-CFTC boundary for crypto?
• Have global regulators converged on how to regulate stablecoins?
• How are hard forks and airdrops taxed?
• How did SEC v. Terraform Labs disagree with the Ripple ruling?
• How does China regulate cryptocurrency?
• How does MiCA categorize crypto-assets?
• How does Singapore regulate cryptocurrency?
• How does the United Kingdom regulate cryptocurrency?
• How do most countries regulate cryptocurrency?
• How do OFAC sanctions apply to cryptocurrency?
• How have courts ruled in the SEC's cases against major crypto exchanges?
• How is cryptocurrency taxed in the United States?
• How many regulators can a single crypto startup face?
• How should a crypto business approach U.S. compliance?
• Is a smart contract a legally enforceable contract?
• Is cryptocurrency legal in the United States?
• What crypto tax reporting is now required?
• What design choices matter most for a central bank digital currency?
• What did the SEC v. Ripple ruling actually hold?
• What did the TerraUSD collapse demonstrate about stablecoins?
• What happened to El Salvador's bitcoin legal tender experiment?
• What is a central bank digital currency?
• What is a stablecoin, and why does it worry regulators?
• What is MiCA, and how does it work?
• What is the CFTC's claim to jurisdiction over crypto?
• What is the FATF travel rule for crypto?
• What is the GENIUS Act?
• What is the Howey test?
• What is the New York BitLicense, and who needs one?
• What legal problem does decentralization create for regulators?
• What obligations does a crypto money services business have?
• What should a cross-border crypto business expect?
• What were the facts of SEC v. Howey?
• When does a token sale look like an unregistered securities offering?
• When is a crypto business a money transmitter under federal law?
• Where do different countries stand on central bank digital currencies?
• Which countries have banned cryptocurrency?
• Which parts of crypto law are stable and which are in flux?
• Why did Switzerland become a crypto hub?
• Why does token classification matter more than any other legal question?
• Why does U.S. crypto law change so often?
• Why do the SEC and CFTC both claim authority over the same tokens?
• Why is bitcoin generally not treated as a security?
• Why is cryptocurrency so difficult to regulate?
• Why is Japan's crypto regulation so strict?