On February 27, BIRN Montenegro presented an analysis of the legal regulation of crypto assets in both Montenegro and Taiwan calling on the Montenegrin government to bring the crypto sector into legal channels and prevent money-laundering risks.
BIRN Montenegro urged the government to introduce criminal liability for unregistered crypto-asset service providers, adopt a dedicated law on digital assets aligned with European rules, and strengthen the supervisory capacities of the Financial Intelligence Unit, FOJ, and the Capital Market Commission.
The analysis also recommends developing crypto-specific guidelines and typologies, as well as introducing blockchain analytics tools.
BIRN Montenegro Executive Director Vuk Maras said that in 2024 the Financial Intelligence Unit handled only five cases related to crypto assets, while BIRN Montenegro’s research indicated the existence of large unregistered and uncontrolled money flows through the crypto market.
“This is a parallel economic flow about which our state knows nothing. Research has shown that cryptocurrency dealers no longer want to work with small amounts but with tens of thousands of euros. This black market is huge and needs to be brought into legal channels,” Maras said.
The analysis noted that Taiwan has introduced serious criminal sanctions for unregistered digital-asset operations, which has led to a doubling in the number of suspicious transactions reported by the crypto sector.
Maras added that after tightening the rules, two-thirds of existing virtual asset service providers, VASPs, in Taiwan lost the right to operate because they failed to meet the new standards.
The analysis was made with the support of the Taipei Representative Office in Hungary.