Crypto Frontline

Cryptocurrency investing is not regulated in Ireland at present. With this reality, government agencies in this northwest European nation are doing the significant task of ensuring Irish consumers’ safety as virtual asset investing rises in popularity.

We find this cryptocurrency-related news in Ireland worth sharing with our readers. We believe they will understand how the world’s governments are working to ensure the safety of their citizens embarking on cryptocurrency investing.

Based on the report posted online by Ireland-based news outlet The Irish Examiner, crypto-asset investors in Ireland do not have consumer protection and comeback because the government is not currently regulating cryptocurrencies. This fact comes even if the firm that investors engage with is legal. 

Moreover, virtual currency investment scams have surged dramatically during the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic, based on the information from Ireland’s police service Garda National Economic Crime Bureau. Scammers zoned in on the people’s increasing obsession with cryptocurrencies. 

There were 234 police reports of investment fraud made to Ireland’s Gardaí or police authorities in the 12 months between January 1 and December 31, 2021. This figure is up from 50 in 2019.

A Saturday, February 19, 2022 news published online by The Irish Examiner is about an Irish man from the country’s western region who got defrauded out of more than €1 million, or US$1,130,499 at the time of writing. The victim reportedly poured his investment money into what he believed was cryptocurrency.

This incident reached John James McGuinness, Teachta Dála or TD. He is the Chair of the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach in Ireland. 

McGuinness’s office is the Oireachtas Finance committee that advises the Houses of the Oireachtas on finance-related matters. In Ireland, the Houses of the Oireachtas is the country’s legislative body similar to a government’s congress or parliament in other territories.

After the €1-million investment fraud that left the Irish investor as a victim, McGuinness was prompted to look into the issue of cryptocurrency regulation. The Finance Committee chairman also received an agreement from his colleagues to place virtual currency on their group’s agenda yesterday, Wednesday, February 23.

McGuinness remarked that his committee would write to the Central Bank of Ireland and the Revenue Commissioners to seek a briefing document from both institutions about virtual currency. Additionally, he relayed that his group would then bring in the Central Bank of Ireland, the Revenue Commissioners, and various stakeholders once they have briefed themselves.

McGuinness said they would start a discussion about cryptocurrency to highlight its positive and negative aspects. Paschal Donohoe is Ireland’s Finance Minister.

He pointed out that the Irish Government had been monitoring developments in the virtual currencies sphere in Ireland and internationally over the last five years. Moreover, the Central Bank of Ireland has issued warnings in the past year about cryptocurrency investment opportunities’ hazards.

The Revenue Commissioners, the Irish Government agency responsible for taxation, customs, excise, and related matters, are expected to outline tax implications about cryptocurrency measures.

We learned that people in Ireland are increasingly taking an interest in cryptocurrency investing. Furthermore, we discovered that millennials and Generation Z, or the youth segment of the Irish population, prefer virtual assets as investment products and have poured their investment funds into them in recent years.

With this reality, we support the government agencies in Ireland as they strengthen their efforts to safeguard their people against cryptocurrency fraudsters. Through the authorities’ assistance, we believe investors can feel safe in their investment endeavors and be confident in trusting cryptocurrencies as investment assets.