Switzerland and Japan were two of the six nations with stablecoin laws in place in 2023 out of the 35 countries PwC examined.
Stablecoin, or cryptocurrency, market value reached new all-time highs in 2023. Stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies like Tether and USDC, have seen impressive growth over the last year. A recent report claims that despite this market’s rapid expansion, only a few nations have begun to regulate it.
As per the December 19th publication of the PwC Global Crypto Regulation Report 2023, there were just six countries that had stablecoin legislation or regulation in place in 2023. The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Japan, Mauritius, and Switzerland are among these nations, per the regulatory assessment and analysis conducted by PwC.
The report points out that the nations that passed stablecoin legislation have also implemented all the other regulations that were examined, such as the Financial Action Task Force’s Travel Rule, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines, and a crypto regulatory framework.
The professional services company evaluated the state of crypto regulations in 35 nations, including the US and the UK, for its most recent report on the subject. PwC’s analysis indicates that nations such as the US and the UK still need to develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and finalise legislation regarding stablecoins.
The report notes that all the other reviewed regulations, such as the Financial Action Task Force’s Travel Rule, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, and a crypto regulatory framework, have been enforced by the countries that passed stablecoin laws.
The professional services company evaluated 35 countries, including the US and the UK, for the state of crypto regulations in its most recent report. Countries like the United States and the United Kingdom have not yet developed a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies or finalised legislation for stablecoins, according to PwC’s analysis.
The report states that 14 jurisdictions, or 40% of the analysed countries, have not yet implemented any stablecoin regulations. Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Taiwan, and Turkey are a few of these nations. Just about 9% of the reviewed jurisdictions—including the United Arab Emirates—are finalising stablecoin laws, while 25% of them—including Hong Kong and Italy—have started the process of regulating stablecoins or communicated their plans.
The PwC report also identifies mainland China, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia as the three nations that have outlawed the use of cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins are a crucial component of the cryptocurrency ecosystem; the most traded asset on a daily basis is the Tether stablecoin. CoinGecko data indicates that Tether’s $34 billion daily trading volumes are 23% greater than Bitcoin’s.
The rapid rise of Tether and other stablecoins in 2023 caused the stablecoin market to soar and add billions in value. Midway through December 2023, Tether’s market capitalization surpassed $90 billion for the first time, having grown by 36% since January. The total market capitalization of stablecoins has been rising this year, setting new records and reaching a record of $131 billion, according to data from CoinGecko.
Stablecoins are expected to grow even more in the upcoming years, according to some analysts. Stablecoins, according to Bitwise’s Ryan Rasmussen, will settle more money in 2024 than Visa, the dominant global payment company.