On April 26, 2023, the Czech Crypto Association held a key conference in the Senate of the Czech Republic to open a debate on the state of the crypto industry in the Czech Republic and to draw attention to the fact that the Czech Republic could easily become an outsider from its position as a cryptocurrency giant, the cradle of many major cryptocurrency innovations.
The main theme was to draw attention to the uneven playing field for entrepreneurs in the cryptocurrency industry and to initiate early intervention before key companies, which play a leading role in the cryptocurrency sector and globally, and are also significant players in terms of tax payments, go abroad due to poor quality legaslative.
The conference "EFFICIENT STATE – A PARTNER TO THE CRYPTO INDUSTRY", organized in cooperation with the think tank E-state founded by Edvard Kožušník, opened an important discussion on regulation and the legal framework of the crypto industry in the Czech Republic.
The conference was held in the prestigious premises of the Wallenstein Palace and was under the patronage of Senate President Jiří Oberfalzer and Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Skopeček.
Supports ČKMA’s Efforts for Equal Treatment of the Crypto Sector
in the Czech Republic
The event was attended by dozens of prominent figures, including politicians, entrepreneurs, and economists. Among them were:
Karel Havlíček, Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies;
František Vinopal, Chairman of ČKMA;
Zdeněk Zajíček, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce; Dominik Stroukal, economist;
Jiří Valenta, Deputy Minister of Finance; Members of Parliament Jiří Havránek and Michal Zuna; Representatives of the Czech National Bank (ČNB) Jan Procházka and Michal Vodrážk; Crypto entrepreneurs such as Roman Valihrach, founder of the Coinmate exchange, and Štěpán Uherík, CFO of SatoshiLabs, the creators of the Trezor crypto wallet.
The primary goal of the conference was to facilitate dialogue between government representatives and leading crypto industry figures while fostering constructive discussions on three key topics shaping the future of the cryptocurrency sector in the Czech Republic:
- the issue of crypto firms accessing banking services
- the threat of over-regulation by the EU (implementation of MiCA in the Czech Republic)
- taxation of cryptocurrencies (introducing a "holding period test," similar to other investment assets).
Members of ČKMA and other representatives of the Czech crypto industry explained to politicians the challenges some companies face when trying to obtain banking services. They highlighted how these difficulties could stifle this promising sector, forcing key companies to relocate abroad.
Experts, including economist and academic Dominik Stroukal, alongside representatives from major Czech crypto companies like SatoshiLabs and Coinmate, shared their perspectives on potential solutions and challenges. A common theme in their speeches was the need for clear rules and fair conditions—without requesting subsidies, government support, or special advantages.
At the end of the conference, participants agreed to continue discussions through roundtables and committee meetings in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament, involving key crypto industry representatives.
Explore key takeaways from the conference in our gallery of participants and their quotes, or watch the full video recording of the event..