Bulgaria Exploring Crypto Payments Says Countries Finance Minister
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- Many miners are apparently contemplating leaving Kazakhstan.
- Digital money may not be adopted until at least 2025, ECB President.
Assen Vassilev, the Bulgarian finance minister for EU funds and deputy prime minister, claimed the country is looking into ways to implement cryptocurrency payments.
Bulgaria’s National Bank and other industry participants are in talks to study crypto payments “in the short to medium term,” Vassilev said as per a Bloomberg report on Friday. Amidst the political turmoil and internet blackouts, many miners are apparently contemplating leaving Kazakhstan for safer havens like Bulgaria.
213,519 BTC Confiscated
Following the confiscation of 213,519 Bitcoin (BTC) from an underground criminal network before the 2017 Bull Run, the Bulgarian government may still be one of the world’s top HODLers. The unknown is whether or if the digital assets were sold or auctioned at the time or if authorities still own them.
Regarding digital currencies, Bulgaria is one of just eight EU countries that has not hopped on board with a digital euro deployment among participating banks. Officials from the Bulgarian government and the Bulgarian National Bank said in June 2021 that they intended to begin adopting the euro in 2024. According to Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, digital money may not be adopted until at least 2025, if not later.
Rossen Iossifov, the owner of RG Coins, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit racketeering and money laundering by a federal jury in the United States in 2021. Approximately 900 Americans were defrauded of $7 million due to the Bulgarian national’s engagement in a conspiracy with others. Rossen was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Cryptocurrency
