Draft Act on certain Obligations and Authorisations in the Field of Crypto-Assets

The Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic has submitted a government draft of an act on certain obligations and authorisations in the field of crypto-assets. This draft represents the implementation of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) on Markets in Crypto-Assets, the so-called “MiCA Regulation”, which creates a harmonised framework for crypto-assets markets. The Regulation implies that crypto-asset service providers will now be licensed entities supervised by the Slovak National Bank.

As the MiCA Regulation brings with it, among other things, a new definition of a crypto-asset, it was necessary to implement this concept also in the Accounting Act and the Income Tax Act, thus replacing the narrower concept of virtual currency. For this reason, the concept of virtual currency is replaced by the broader concept of crypto-asset, which, according to the MiCA Regulation, is a digital representation of a value or right that can be transferred and stored electronically using distributed transaction database technology or similar technology.

The Accounting Act also introduces a new concept of “electronic money tokens”(stablecoins), the purpose of which is to maintain a stable value by being pegged to the value of a single official currency. This special type of crypto-asset will be measured at nominal value as opposed to other crypto-assets that are measured at fair value.

The changes in tax and accounting legislation are proposed with effect from 1 January 2025.