By
Bena Ilyas
April 25th, 2024
The Croatian Post collaborated with Electrocoin to operate a pilot program for a crypto-fiat exchange. It is reported that the pilot project will facilitate crypto owners to exchange Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Stellar (XLM), XRP and EOS for fiat money.
Croatian Post, Hrvatska Pošta, the national postal operator of the Republic of Croatia announced that a pilot project for its own cryptocurrency exchange is being conducted to be followed by a final rollout for both domestic and foreign users. The project allows users to convert cryptos into the Croatian national currency, the Kuna (HRK).
Croatia has been among popular countries of the European Union that still thinks of cryptocurrency as a legal way of trade.
However, on December 18, 2017, Croatia’s Financial Stability Council warned that individuals investing in virtual currencies bear sole responsibility for their losses and should be aware of possible taxation. It stated that Croatian regulators are not responsible for the oversight of the individuals who issue virtual currencies or trade in them. The Council noted that virtual currencies are associated with considerable risks, such as those of digital wallet theft and transaction misuse, fraud, etc. A similar warning was issued by the National Bank of Croatia on September 22, 2017.
Also, let’s do not forget that trading cryptocurrencies in Croatia is considered a financial transaction so the income generated by the sales of cryptocurrencies is subject to personal income tax. This makes sense as the capital gains apply to currencies, or sale of currencies. Income is determined as the difference between the purchasing price and and the selling price, less any trading costs.
Keep in mind that the purchase of a cryptocurrency is not subject to tax, but it is after it is sold as stated in the Croatian Personal Income Tax Act. Income realized on this basis is considered as a final income, so the tax paid on capital gains in then final.
Bearing that in mind, it’s logical that in Croatia there have been an increasing number of users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies over the last several years. Croatian Post, with its current national network of 1,016 postal offices, decided to further contribute to overall popularity of cryptocurrencies.
According to the announcement:
“Digitalization is one of the Croatian postal development strategies and a driver of numerous business projects. Entering the digital currency market, Croatia Post confirms its position as one of the leaders in digital transformation.”
The pilot comes via a collaboration with Croatian crypto brokerage and payments firm Electrocoin, which has been in operation for five years and whose core business involves selling and buying cryptocurrency from both retail and institutional clients, as well as facilitating cryptocurrency payments for merchants.. The company will reportedly enable crypto holders to convert Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Stellar (XLM), XRP and EOS.
However, this is not a lonely example of post doing crypto business.
In February this year, Lichtenstein’s official postal service, Liechtensteinische Post AG, announced plans to offer cryptocurrency exchange services at their physical locations.
Also, the Austrian Post released a line of blockchain-certified collectible stamps last month. These stamps are apparently the first crypto collectible stamps in the world, and were issued in two accompanying parts — a functional stamp stylized with the Ethereum unicorn, and an authenticator for the stamp containing a QR code.
While this decision clearly shows that the country is open to the cryptocurrency revolution, it also explains the needs of a growing crypto community in the Southeastern European country.