Demand for digital assets, the development of startups and their products related to digital assets is growing day by day. Even during the current decline in the cryptocurrency market (beginning of 2022) in recent months (bear market) demand is not declining, because those involved in the world of cryptocurrencies and digital tokens mostly believe in blockchain technology on which projects are based and believe that the price of digital assets will only rise in the long run. The author of the text is one of those. For now, there are not many regular users of cryptomats, so their experiences are not in focus.

The usual methods of buying and trading digital assets, internet platforms, have questionable compliance with crypto regulations in Serbia. This is understandable because Serbia is a small market and many platforms for the trading of digital assets are not even familiar with the regulations in Serbia that apply to them. After all, their clients are from Serbia. However, in addition to buying digital assets online, there is also the option of buying and selling digital assets via cryptomats.

Cryptomat regulation in Serbia

The Law on Digital Assets recognizes the possibility of using cryptomats. Article 2, paragraph 1, item 7 of the Law prescribes: "crypto ATM is an automated machine that allows the purchase and sale of digital assets for money or the exchange of digital assets for other digital assets." Thus, the Law recognizes that cryptomats can be used to buy cryptocurrencies and digital tokens for traditional (fiat) money, but also that one digital asset (cryptocurrency or digital token) can be exchanged for another at a cryptomat, e.g. so that the cryptomat user who owns BTC (bitcoin) will exchange it for ETH (token from the Ethereum network).

The Law regulates the conditions under which services related to digital assets can be performed. The most important of such services are (1) services for buying and selling digital assets for cash and (2) services for exchanging digital assets for other digital assets. The Law on Digital Assets recognizes such a business model, by stipulating that these two services can be provided through cryptomat - crypto ATM.

Locations

In Serbia, cryptomats are not positioned "on every corner". The most common question is where can cryptomats be found? To our knowledge, there are only a few cryptomats in Serbia.

Cryptomat in Belgrade is located in two locations. The first one is in Idea London, at 28 Kralja Milana Street, which was not in use at the time of typing this blog. The second location is TC Mercator, at 4 Bulevar Umetnosti Street, in Novi Beograd. The "working hours" of this cryptomat are from 9 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week.

In Novi Sad, there is a cryptomat in Idea, at 53a Narodnog Fronta Street. The "working hours" of this cryptomat are from 7 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week.

BTC, ETH and Litecoin can be bought and sold at all these locations.

Commission

A cryptomat (i.e. Crypto ATM), just like a bank ATM, earns commissions when users are buying and selling cryptocurrencies. On the abovementioned cryptomats, the commission for the purchase of cryptocurrencies is 5.7% of the transaction amount + 500 dinars. The commission for the sale of cryptocurrencies is 5.7% of the transaction amount + 250 dinars. Information on cryptomat commissions is subject to change at the discretion of the cryptocurrency owner. For now, there is no possibility of trading one cryptocurrency for another, nor a commission for that service, for which there is a legal basis in the Law on Digital Assets.

Cryptomats (Crypto ATMs) and circumstances in Serbia

For the mass adoption of digital assets, especially among the elderly population, it will be necessary to expand the number and accessibility of cryptomats to the level at which bank ATMs are today. With the growth of the number of cryptomat users, and for the appropriate competitiveness of buying and selling digital assets via cryptomat with buying and selling online, it will be necessary to increase the number of digital assets offered on cryptomats, beyond only three types of digital assets (BTC, ETH and Litecoin). Thus, it is more important than the widespread use of cryptomats to include other popular cryptocurrencies in existing cryptomats, such as XRP, SOL, ADA, AVAX, DOT and others.

Law Office Pekić supports the growth of the number of cryptomats and their spread throughout Serbia, both in a professional sense, by providing legal assistance for starting cryptomats, and in a non-professional sense, in order to accelerate the general acceptance of digital assets in everyday life.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal service, as each situation requires a commitment to the specific circumstances of an individual case, which may be different from others.

For tailored legal assistance, contact the Law Office Pekić at: [email protected]

Author: Attorney at Law Stefan Pekić