The regulation of exchanges and other bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency platforms in Argentina and Spain is causing people to think about alternatives to evade government controls and surveillance. Self-custody is one of them. As reported by BitcoinDynamic, the cryptocurrency community in Argentina continues to digest the regulations that give the National Securities Commission the power to monitor and regulate, in the first instance, exchanges, wallets, gateways and other service providers for crypto assets that operate in that country. The standard establishes the creation of a supplier registry, in which they must register all companies in the cryptoasset sector that operate in Argentina in less than 45 days starting this week. According to what is established, those who offer virtual assets less than 35,000 Purchasing Value Units (UVA) per month, or about USD 32,000, are exempt from registering in the registry. Although the rule is certainly aimed mainly against companies in the sector, Argentine users are also affected, to the point of considering that they will be more monitored by the country's regulators if they choose to use an exchange or wallet that is based in Argentina. They believe this due to the fact that, as a rule, these companies must register with the CNV and eventually be licensed in order to operate. This, accessing the regulator's requirements, such as transferring information about the operations carried out on the platform, and even data from the clients themselves.
Lawyer Ana Ojeda, executive director of the legal firm Legal Rocks, assures that Argentine exchanges and platforms have to adapt to this rule if they want to continue operating. Also, that these entities will have “more closely” the sights of the CNV of Argentina. Given this, many cryptocurrency users wonder what to do? and the answer that emerges is to opt for self-custody of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This alternative is exercised through wallets that put BTC in the hands of users and They allow you to bypass the surveillance of the Argentine regulatory body.
At the same time, in a way to have absolute control of the money, without the intermediation of platforms that They will be under the supervision of the Argentine State.
This is so since self-custody involves the action of controlling the private keys of the wallet in which the assets are deposited. Something that is outside the reach of exchanges or other platforms that act as intermediaries and, consequently, are required to register with the CNV of Argentina. In other words, the Argentine user becomes their own bank in power exercise sovereignty over your funds. This prevents a company from managing its assets, which ends up being a risk in the event of bankruptcy, intervention or collapse of a platform.
Self-custody shines in Spain as an alternative
In Spain, many also have self-custody in their sights. This is due to regulatory pressure that forces users of bitcoin, and other crypto assets, to declare their holdings before the Treasury. Until the end of this month of March, the Spanish tax agency is receiving Form 721 declarations, which is a format that requires investors to report crypto assets stored with a third party outside Spanish territory. Also highlighted is Model 172, which establishes the informative declaration of balances in virtual currencies within Spanish territory. Due to such regulatory pressure, legal firms such as Fiscal Crypto report growth in the number of Spanish users who have opted for self-custody, precisely in an attempt to evade established regulations For the state. As the tax economist specialized in bitcoin, José Antonio Bravo, who is the leader of that advisory firm, told BitcoinDynamic, the 721 declaration model “is causing problems” even for accounting professionals. By opting for self-custody, Investors avoid having to inform the Spanish State about their money deposited on foreign or even national platforms, since they are the ones who maintain control of the money and not a third party. However, these balances must be declared as equity, which incurs taxes. According to what the Spanish lawyer Cristina Carrascosa explains, regardless of whether they are cold wallets (without an Internet connection) or hot wallets (with a connection), if a person has the private keys to the wallets, those assets are not abroad. and therefore they must be declared under Form 714, which is the Wealth Tax declaration. Whatever the case, the self-custody of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies proves to be a way in which it is possible to avoid the surveillance and control of governments and the system, based on the principle of sovereignty and inviolability that characterizes the disruptive ecosystem.