Anti-money-laundering controls remain a central concern, he said, describing a need to understand and manage risks before introducing new rules.
“We don’t want to create something with a big boom and then with a big collapse,” Valainis said. The government will implement solutions only when it is “1,000% sure” they would be transparent and understandable, he added.
Members of the Latvian Blockchain Association (LBAA), which aims to make the country a major Web3 hub in the European Union, participate in working groups and testing, according to the minister.
He named no individual commercial partners, though the LBAA’s members include crypto exchanges like Kraken and Backpack EU, as well as fintech firms like Indemo, Capitalia and Twino, and even the airline airBaltic.
Valainis also said the potential economic benefit had not been quantified, but noted his case for the changes rests on attracting international businesses, investment and tax revenue.
Tokenizing Latvian government bonds is also on the “priority list,” he said. Asked how long it would take to tokenize Latvia’s bonds and real estate once the rules were in place, he said: “I would like to say the first part of the next year. It could be done.”
The Treasury and the ministry’s press office have not answered questions CoinDesk sent on the tokenization efforts.