Regulatory Requirements for Crypto: What You Need to Know in 2025
When it comes to regulatory requirements, the rules that govern how you can buy, trade, and hold cryptocurrency in your country. Also known as crypto laws, these requirements aren’t just paperwork—they decide whether you can access your coins, how much tax you pay, or if your favorite exchange gets shut down. In 2025, this isn’t theoretical. It’s real. Thailand blocked Bybit and OKX because they weren’t licensed locally. Portugal ended its crypto tax holiday. India didn’t ban self-custody wallets, but made them so expensive to use that most people avoid them. These aren’t random moves—they’re part of a global shift where governments are finally catching up to crypto’s speed.
Crypto exchanges, the platforms where you trade digital assets. Also known as crypto platforms, they’re the frontline of regulation. In Nigeria, only eight exchanges are allowed to operate legally. In Iran, people bypass bans by using decentralized exchanges like DAI on Polygon. In Poland, B2Z Exchange lets traders use high leverage—but blocks U.S. users because it doesn’t meet American rules. If an exchange says it’s "global," check if it actually works where you live. Many don’t. Then there’s crypto tax, how governments treat profits from buying and selling digital assets. In Portugal, long-term Bitcoin holders used to pay zero tax. That’s gone now. In Russia, you can still buy crypto with rubles, but you need to report it. In the U.S., the IRS treats crypto like property. No matter where you are, if you made money, they want a cut. And if you didn’t report it? That’s a problem waiting to happen.
And then there’s the gray zone—the projects that vanish under the radar. TajCoin. Gunstar Metaverse. Yamfore. These aren’t scams because they promised returns. They’re scams because they promised nothing at all—no team, no product, no updates—and still got listed on exchanges. Why? Because some regulators still don’t have the tools to track them. But that’s changing. The same governments cracking down on exchanges are starting to look at these ghost tokens too.
What you’ll find below isn’t a list of opinions. It’s a collection of real cases—Thailand’s ban, Nigeria’s licensed platforms, Portugal’s tax endgame, India’s wallet confusion, Iran’s DEX workarounds, and the airdrops that promised free money but delivered nothing. These aren’t hypotheticals. They’re snapshots of how regulatory requirements are shaping crypto right now. Whether you’re holding a token, trading on a P2P network, or just trying to avoid getting banned from your exchange, what’s here will help you know what’s real, what’s risky, and what’s just noise.
-
Ongoing Compliance Obligations in Blockchain: What You Must Keep Doing to Stay Legal
Ongoing compliance obligations in blockchain aren't optional-they're legal. Learn what you must keep doing to avoid fines, loss of trust, or shutdowns in 2025's evolving regulatory landscape.