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TL;DR: Greece approved a 10% crypto capital gains tax, South Korea delayed its digital currency tax a fourth time to 2029, and Paraguay’s president announced his resignation after digital lender Ueno Bank collapsed.
Key Takeaways:
- Greece approved a 10% crypto capital gains tax with a €500 ($557) annual exemption, down from the 15% first proposed.
- South Korea plans to delay its digital currency gains tax to 2029, the fourth postponement.
- South Korea proposed allowing investors to carry forward crypto losses for up to 3 years.
- Ueno Bank held about $850 million in deposits and served over 60% of Paraguayan adults.
- Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies voted 78-0 to advance impeachment charges against President Peña.
The mixed fortunes of fintech saw one country pass its digital currency tax and another delay its version yet again, just as a third deals with a political crisis after a digital bank collapsed.
Greece has approved a 10% capital gains tax on digital assets, 5% less than initially rumored, giving the country its first comprehensive framework for taxing digital assets. South Korea, meanwhile, has pushed back its long-awaited digital currency tax for a fourth time, delaying it until 2029, while in Paraguay, the collapse of digital lender Ueno Bank has prompted President Santiago Peña to announce his resignation.
Greek parliament approves 10% tax on digital currency gains
Greece’s parliament has approved a bill that imposes a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies with a €500 ($557) annual exemption, bringing the country’s first comprehensive legal framework for taxing digital assets, according to a November 5 Reuters report.
“Further implementation directives will be published in the coming weeks, which will also define transparency and audit rules,” a senior finance ministry official told Reuters.
The 10% tax is lower than the 15% originally proposed when the legislation was being formulated back in June 2026.
Up to now, Greece has been without a legal framework for taxing digital assets, and the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), which came fully into force in December 2024, also does not specify a unified taxation system for crypto assets across the bloc.
Thus, crypto taxation varies across the 27 EU member states and typically applies to realized gains rather than mere ownership. In many countries, profits from selling digital assets are taxed as capital gains, while mining, staking, and professional trading may be subject to separate income tax rules.
Specific rates range from around 8% in Cyprus to around 30% in France for many individual investors, while France typically applies a flat tax regime to digital asset gains; other countries use progressive tax systems.
The Greek ministry official reportedly told Reuters that the state revenue from the new tax could not be projected, as the vast majority of investors use platforms abroad, making the size of Greece’s cryptocurrency market hard to measure.
Elsewhere in the world of digital asset gains tax, a long-anticipated South Korean bill has suffered a fourth delay.
South Korea delays again
South Korea plans to push back its tax on digital asset gains another two years, to 2029, according to a November 5 report from local outlet The Korea Herald.
The government reportedly decided, in response to calls for more time to prepare, to propose allowing investors to carry losses forward for up to three years.
This is now the fourth delay the proposed bill has faced. Originally dating back to July 2020—when the government announced plans to tax annual digital asset income exceeding KRW 2.5 million ($1,888) at a combined rate of 22%, comprising a 20% national income tax and a 2% local income tax—the National Assembly passed the relevant legislation in December 2020, with implementation originally scheduled for January 1, 2022.
However, the policy faced sustained opposition from investors and the digital asset industry, citing inadequate tax-reporting infrastructure, difficulties verifying acquisition costs and tracking transactions conducted through overseas exchanges and decentralized platforms, and the absence of provisions allowing losses to be carried forward into future tax years.
This was combined with concerns from lawmakers around administrative readiness and other political considerations. For example, the opposition People Power Party, whose lawmakers introduced bills to repeal the tax or delay it until 2029 or 2030, adopted postponement as its party line, while ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Park Min-gyu proposed delaying implementation until two years after the first international exchange of digital asset transaction information under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), with South Korea committed to first exchanges in 2027.
All of this ultimately contributed to the four postponements, first to 2023, then to 2025, then to January 1, 2027, and now to 2029.
The most recent delay will not come as a surprise to many, with rumors swirling around towards the end of October that a fourth postponement was on the cards.
Speaking at a parliamentary audit on October 22, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Lee Eog-weon said there were “various opinions” on the tax and that the government was currently gathering them, adding that it would fully consider the circumstances before deciding—as reported by local outlet MoneyToday.
There is no talk of canceling the tax, with the government still seemingly set on introducing it, but with the fourth delay now apparently official, the South Korean digital asset industry and investors have some more breathing room to get their ducks in a row before the new 2029 date—barring a fifth delay.
While Greece and South Korea busy themselves with advancing or delaying digital asset tax reform, lawmakers in Paraguay face a more pressing fintech-related dilemma.
Paraguay’s Peña quits as Ueno digital bank collapses
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña has announced his resignation following the collapse of Ueno Bank, a fast-growing digital lender whose failure has locked millions of Paraguayans out of their savings.
In a video posted to X on November 5, Peña said he was stepping down for “the stability of our country, social peace and the need to preserve our democratic institutions.”
The resignation has not yet taken effect, but minutes after the announcement, the Chamber of Deputies voted 78-0 to advance impeachment charges against him, and a joint session called to accept the resignation was voided for lack of a quorum after ruling-party lawmakers walked out.
The vote sent the impeachment accusation to the Senate, which must decide whether to proceed with the trial, the outcome of which could be significant, as, under Article 189 of the Constitution, former elected presidents become senators for life unless they are impeached and found guilty.
The Central Bank of Paraguay began resolution proceedings with Ueno on November 3, after finding out the latter’s solvency ratio had dropped below half the regulatory minimum. Regulators said they found poorly documented lending to companies linked to the bank’s owners, and expenses wrongly booked as assets.
Ueno, a rebranded decades-old finance company that won its banking license in 2023, has claimed over 60% of Paraguayan adults as customers and held roughly $850 million in public deposits, including state pension money.
Peña denies wrongdoing but is on the hook for its failure because he was a shareholder in Grupo Vázquez, Ueno’s parent, until March 2025. However, the President also repeatedly brushed off warnings about Ueno and, as recently as last month, defended the bank, dismissing concerns as a smear campaign that was spooking the public, according to an Associated Press report.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have charged 27 bank officials and associates, and the founder, Miguel Vázquez, has been jailed pending trial.
An emergency law approved by Congress on November 4 provides for an advance of up to 40 times the minimum monthly salary per depositor, subject to offsetting outstanding debts. The payment process must begin within 24 hours and cannot exceed five business days after the law takes effect.
The fallout from Ueno’s collapse could shape policy in Paraguay, which has hosted digital asset mining operations and which Peña pitched as a tech hub; a successor focused on a break from the past and on restoring trust may prioritize tougher fintech supervision over digital currency-friendly reform.
FAQs:
How much is Greece’s new crypto tax?
Greece approved a 10% capital gains tax on crypto with a €500 ($557) annual exemption. It is lower than the 15% proposed in June.
When will South Korea’s crypto tax start?
South Korea plans to push it to 2029, the fourth delay since the original 2022 start date.
Why does South Korea keep delaying its crypto tax?
Investors and industry cited weak reporting infrastructure, difficulty in tracking overseas trades, and the absence of a loss carry-forward. Lawmakers also raised readiness and political concerns.
What happened to Ueno Bank in Paraguay?
Paraguay’s central bank began resolution proceedings on November 3 after Ueno’s solvency ratio fell below half the regulatory minimum.
Why is Paraguay’s president resigning?
Santiago Peña announced his resignation on November 5 after Ueno’s collapse. He was a shareholder in its parent company until March 2025.
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