The Central Bank of Uruguay has signaled plans to introduce new regulations aimed at clarifying the legal status of Bitcoin and other virtual assets, as well as defining the licensing requirements for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) offering trading and custody services.
Speaking at the Blockchain Summit Global in Montevideo, Patricia Tudisco, Superintendent of Financial Regulation at the Central Bank, stated that updates are necessary to the existing cryptocurrency legislation in light of recent developments in international compliance standards.
A key issue the new regulations will address is the distinction between “financial” and “non-financial” virtual assets. The current law does not make this distinction, bringing even non-financial assets under its scope.
She stated:
This fundamental distinction is made because, for the ‘virtual financial asset service provider,’ the focus of regulation is on consumer protection and anti-money laundering issues.
Patricia Tudisco further explained that for so-called “non-financial” virtual assets, regulatory oversight would focus solely on anti-money laundering (AML) measures, excluding consumer protection requirements.
She clarified that, under the Central Bank’s current view, Bitcoin would be classified as a non-financial virtual asset. As a result, companies offering only custody services for Bitcoin would not be required to obtain a license.
In contrast, centralized stablecoins like USDT would be categorized as financial virtual assets. Service providers dealing with such assets would need to obtain a more comprehensive license due to the financial nature of these instruments.
“That’s why I mentioned the need for this regulatory review,” Tudisco concluded. “In other countries, the regulation is based on the nature of the services provided, rather than the specific purpose of the virtual asset itself—something we believe should be taken into account going forward.”
