It seems like almost every day now, executive, legislative, and central banking officials and entities in countries around the world are regulating, restricting, or allowing (either expressly or implicitly) the use of virtual currencies, the operation of virtual currency businesses and exchanges, and the intersection of virtual currencies and more traditional financial institutions. Tracking these international developments has become a part-time, or possibly even full-time, endeavor and today Perkins Coie is hoping make that task a little easier for the readers of this blog by posting its International Virtual Currency Tracker.
The chart should be fairly self-explanatory. Countries that have meaningfully weighed in on the topic are listed in alphabetical order along the left-hand side, followed to the right by a high-level summary of the country’s current stance on virtual currencies, and then by more specific details, by date, of the actions taken by government officials and entities in that country. We’re regularly updating the tracker, expecting to post an updated version periodically, and also cross-referencing it with other great tools that are available elsewhere, such as the visualization and collection at bitlegal.net, the survey by the Library of Congress (also available in PDF form), and Kashmir Hill’s collection over at Forbes.
Hopefully, this tracker will simplify the task of keeping up with the ever-changing international landscape and give you a quick snapshot of the status of virtual currency regulation in any individual country and around the world.
We welcome your comments or tips about new developments, which you can send to us at PCBlogs@perkinscoie.com.