“Assets Issued With Only Computer Code Are Not Securities”

It seems that such an evaluation from an EU country, especially after the comments of Gary Gensler, the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who excludes Bitcoin and considers all other cryptocurrencies and tokens as securities, will further increase the discussions.

Belgium’s regulator, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), stated in its latest report that Bitcoin, Ethereum and cryptocurrencies issued using only computer code are not securities. The reason why FSMA made this statement was that many questions came to the institution every day about what Belgium’s stance is on digital assets. The following statements were used in the statement of the institution:

“If there is no issuer, however, if the instruments are generated by a computer code and this production is not done in an agreement between the issuer and the investor, the regulation, laws and MiFID rules do not apply.”

The regulatory agency noted that although cryptocurrencies are not considered securities, they may be subject to many other regulatory rules:

“However, if the instruments are used as a means of exchange or payment, other regulation rules can be applied. The same rules are also applied to the persons or institutions serving with these instruments.”

The FSMA stated that the phased plan will serve as a guide until the adoption of the European Crypto Asset Market Rules (MiCA), which is expected to come into effect in 2024.