Despite the fact that the silly season has already started, several interesting occurrences took place. The most important news comes from the European Union, but also from Russia, Argentina and USA. Let us have a closer look.

Let us start with some bad news. The European Commission decided to regulate institutions dealing with cryptocurrencies. More precisely, to deal with exchanges and wallets which exchange the usual currencies for cryptocurrencies. According to the Commission, these institutions should implement the so-called AML and KYC rules against money laundering, which require asking for more personal information. The goal of such changes is to prevent the cryptocurrencies from being used by illegal personnel without the exchanges knowing about it. The regulations are to be implemented in member countries of the European Union. This means that if the UK exits the EU, the country could become a haven for cryptocurrencies.

Russia is yet again a source of some interesting news. Although the Russian government seems like it would like to hamper the growth in popularity of cryptocurrencies, the actions of governmental institutions prove something very different. The Russian central bank, which had previously positively commented on cryptocurrencies, signed a memorandum with other banks. It deals with cooperation with financial institutions such as QIWI Group, Accenture, BINBANK, MDM Bank, Bank “Otkritie”, and Tinkoff Bank. The consortium should be an equivalent of the already existing consortium of banks called R3 which will research Bitcoin and Blockchain in a similar context.

A similar approach as in the EU, which is not in line with the interests of the current Russian government, came from the right-wing party Strana Rastu. The party announced two months before the parliamentary election that it will be accepting donations in Bitcoin. However, the party noted that the donations will be accepted only if the identity of the donor is revealed. It also promises that if elected, the party will help promote Bitcoin in Russia.

So far the claims of the democratic nominee Hillary Clinton are affirmative. Mrs Clinton claims that if elected, she will improve the technological environment in the USA – and so Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology could play a role. The reason for this is simple – the technologies provide a decentralized database for various uses. Whether it is the effectivity of government spending which the nominee wants to improve, or registering real estate, it does not really matter. Whoever wins the presidential race in the US (may it be Hilary Clinton or the infamous Donald Trump), both candidates could improve the environment for the development of cryptocurrencies and boost USA markets in this area.

Uber, a symbol of sharing economy, experiences hard times in Argentina. More specifically, the government of Buenos Aires decided to fight against it. The local officials forced local firms which provide services linked to credit cards to block the Uber app. Fortunately for the users of Uber, there is a possibility to use cards from a company called Xapo, which use Bitcoin as well. For the disappointed users, there is a possibility to get around the common card companies. Uber, however, offers discounts for these cards as well. In the end, the government unintentionally helped to promote Bicoin in Argentina.

Translated by Filip Bolčo