Country overview

#49

Sweden

Country stats

Rating Points

190

This indicator describes the overall rating of a given jurisdiction on several parameters according to cryptocurrency operations - market volume, crypto regulation, business climate, taxation framework.

Crypto Penetration

1.6%

Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Legal Entities

Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.

Regulation Points

120

An overall assessment of the granularity of crypto regulation in a given country. A high score is also given to countries where cryptocurrency transactions are highly regulated.

Amount of crypto users

166 400

Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Taxation points

This figure, according to our analysts' calculations, indicates the overall level of tax burden for cryptocurrency transactions in a given country. The higher the indicator, the lower the burden.

Market volume points

128.4

A rough estimate of this jurisdiction's retail crypto market relative to the rest of the world. The higher the indicator, the higher the market potential.

Status of crypto

Legally allowed

General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.

Crypto payments

Legally allowed

The legal status of cryptocurrency payments for goods and services in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Security Level

Minor danger

The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.

Crypto Salaries

No info

The legal status of cryptocurrency salaries to employers in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Business Climate

Difficult

Overall assessment of the friendliness of this country for crypto-business. This indicator takes into account the cost of obtaining a license and the attitude towards crypto entities in the country.

Stablecoin Regulation

Low

This indicator is evaluating the regulation of stablecoins in a given country. Complex regulation means that it is possible to issue steiblcoins and obtain a license for this activity. Basic regulation means that the issuance of stablecoins is possible, but not all legal aspects are defined in the law. Standard regulation means that there is a legal practice of steylcoin circulation in a given country.

Bad Factors

This section describes the unfavorable economic factors for crypto-business in a given country. These are countries that are under sanctions or on the FATF grey list and other factors.

Types of licenses

Crypto-to-crypto

This license type allows VASP to provide legal exchange from one cryptocurrency to another.

Crypto-to-fiat

This type of license regulates the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat.

Wallet/Custody

This country has a legal licensing procedure for companies that store cryptocurrency - - crypto wallet providers and custodians.

Fintech

This indicator means that in a given country, companies with fintech licenses (financial services) can legally transact with crypto assets and the country has appropriate licensing procedures.

Good

Medium

Bad

intro

The issues of taxation and cryptocurrency exchange in Sweden have long been settled. However, an overly strict approach to AML and high taxes hinder the country's crypto business development.

Security level

Sweden has a minor danger security level according to our rating. The jurisdiction has 51.9 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (1). Homicide level (2) is 1,1 per 100,000 inhabitants a year. Story of firearm-related death (3) 1.31 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

According to the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (“SFSA”), there are transactions(4) in Sweden involving virtual assets. However, in Sweden, virtual assets are not considered a standard or well-functioning payment method. There are also established businesses in Sweden dealing with virtual assets mining and businesses that offer trading venues for virtual assets. The SFSA has issued warnings for trading in virtual assets due to the risks identified, e.g. the lack of price and trade transparency and the absence of adequate consumer protection regulation.

As far as we know, non-fungible tokens have yet to be used in any significant scale in Sweden. There have, however, been some high-profile cases where digital artworks, presented as non-fungible tokens, have been auctioned out by public figures.

Crypto Salaries

Being paid in cryptocurrency as a salary from employment or in exchange for services as a freelancer is taxed(5), similar to being paid in SEK or another fiat currency. This means that from a tax perspective, there is no practical difference in what type of currency you receive your compensation – the income amount will be taxed as income in all cases.

Legal

Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (the “SFSA”) and Riksbank.

Swedish law does not contain(6) a comprehensive regime governing virtual currencies. There are, to a limited extent, specific regulations regarding certain activities relating to virtual currencies that subject custodian wallet providers and virtual currency exchanges to regulatory registration requirements and requirements to comply with the Swedish Anti-Money Laundering Act (the AML Act), but operations relating to virtual currencies are otherwise largely unregulated under Swedish law. Depending on the characteristics of the virtual currencies concerned, it is also possible for them to be included under more general legal frameworks, for example, to the extent that they constitute financial instruments.

As for blockchain technology in general, Sweden has yet to adopt (7) any specific laws to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies or other crypto assets. However, rules of a more general nature may be applicable depending on the use and character of the crypto support at hand.

From a financial regulatory perspective, the SFSA has not provided any conclusive guidance on treating cryptocurrencies or crypto assets for financial regulation. However, the Swedish Central Bank and other central banks have stated that crypto asset is a better term than cryptocurrency since it is mostly purchased as an investment / speculative asset, and the SFSA has indicated that they are of a similar opinion.

As far as we know, only a few ICOs have occurred in Sweden (for example, by Starflow AB and Chromaway AB).

As regards the attitude of relevant authorities, the SFSA and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) have issued warnings for investing in ICOs and crypto assets in general, highlighting that the purchase of a token in ICOs does not necessarily entail any rights for the consumer, that the price of tokens issued does not have to be set by an independent party and that there is no guaranteed access to secondary markets.

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	30
PIT tax Max	52
Corporate tax (CIT)	20,6
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	30
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	30
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0
Mining tax	0
TDS tax	0

PIT

Employment income is taxed at the following rounded taxable income amounts (2023) is 32% by PWC(8).

CIT

Taxable income is subject to corporate tax at a flat rate of 20.6%, applying from 1 January 2021, according to PWC(9).

CGT

The headline corporate capital gains tax rate is 30%, according to PWC(10).

Links

1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

3)List of countries by firearm-related death rate

4 and 7)Sweden: Blockchain. Questions and answers.

5)Crypto Tax Guide Sweden – Updated 2022. Article

6)Virtual Currency Regulation: Sweden. Article

8)Individual - Taxes on personal income. PWC

9)Corporate - Taxes on corporate income. PWC

10)Overview. PWC

Articles

article

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Understanding NFT licenses with Cryptopenetration

article

The Binance Card Program is Done, What Do You Do Now?

We deal with what happened to Binance crypto cards and what alternatives exist

article

How Much Did Hamster Kombat Earn and Why Are Users Unhappy?

Some hypothesis about issues of Hamster Kombat drop and its possible earnings.

intro

The issues of taxation and cryptocurrency exchange in Sweden have long been settled. However, an overly strict approach to AML and high taxes hinder the country's crypto business development.

Security level

Crypto Payments

Crypto Salaries

Legal

Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (the “SFSA”) and Riksbank.

As far as we know, only a few ICOs have occurred in Sweden (for example, by Starflow AB and Chromaway AB).

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	30
PIT tax Max	52
Corporate tax (CIT)	20,6
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	30
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	30
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0
Mining tax	0
TDS tax	0

PIT

Employment income is taxed at the following rounded taxable income amounts (2023) is 32% by PWC(8).

CIT

Taxable income is subject to corporate tax at a flat rate of 20.6%, applying from 1 January 2021, according to PWC(9).

CGT

The headline corporate capital gains tax rate is 30%, according to PWC(10).

Links

1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

3)List of countries by firearm-related death rate

4 and 7)Sweden: Blockchain. Questions and answers.

5)Crypto Tax Guide Sweden – Updated 2022. Article

6)Virtual Currency Regulation: Sweden. Article

8)Individual - Taxes on personal income. PWC

9)Corporate - Taxes on corporate income. PWC

10)Overview. PWC