20 LEXPERT
|
2019
|
WWW.LEXPERT.CA
BITCOIN TRANSACTIONS
IF ONLY LAW AND COMMERCE evolved in tan-
dem, on a parallel timeline that yielded the cer-
tainty that business craves. Unfortunately, that
hopeful yearning — at least as it relates to the
emerging cryptocurrency conundrum — may be
more wishful than ever.
In an era where rapid technological advance-
ment is the order of the day — and seemingly be-
coming more so each and every day — the law, reactive by necessity
and restrained in its development by the need for balance among
competing societal forces, cannot hope to keep up. is is especially
so in the early stages of progress, where lawmakers, regulators and
courts can only watch as innovation lunges and lurches at its com-
mercial promise, frequently turning to capital markets to sustain its
development as it seeks the forms and outlets that will give it stabil-
ity and a meaningful bottom line.
It's not surprising, then, that investor euphoria frequently reaches
boiling points in regulatory vacuums, only to dampen when regula-
tors first step in. Of necessity, these initial steps are usually tentative
and transitional measures aimed at the bad apples in the capital mar-
kets, but lacking the guidance that creates the certainty that propels
investor confidence. In the meantime, as investors blink, the pace of
innovation can suffer.
So it is with cryptocurrency and its underlying blockchain plat-
form. Consider, for example, that Canada was the first nation
to confront the legal issues surrounding cryptocurrency when it
amended its money-laundering and terrorism-financing legisla-
tion to compel cryptocurrency dealers to register with the Finan-
cial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FIN-
TRAC), keep detailed records and report suspicious transactions.
Almost five years later, final regulations have not been published,
Cryptocurrency
Uncertainty
AS CANADIAN
REGULATORS AND
LEGISLATORS GET
UP TO SPEED ON
CRYPTOCURRENCY
TECHNOLOGY,
UNCERTAINTY REMAINS
ABOUT HOW TO APPLY
EXISTING LAWS TO IT
BY JULIUS MELNITZER
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
