Kuwait vs United States

Kuwait has taken a restrictive approach to cryptocurrency. The Central Bank of Kuwait and the Capital Markets Authority have prohibited banks and financial institutions from processing crypto transactions. There is no licensing framework for crypto exchanges. However, owning crypto is not explicitly illegal, and there is no personal income tax in Kuwait, so no crypto-specific tax applies.

The United States has the world's most complex crypto regulatory landscape, with overlapping federal and state jurisdictions. The SEC regulates crypto securities and has pursued enforcement actions against exchanges and token issuers. The CFTC oversees crypto derivatives and considers Bitcoin a commodity. FinCEN applies BSA requirements to crypto exchanges as money service businesses. The IRS taxes crypto as property: short-term gains at income tax rates (10-37%), long-term gains at 0-20%. New 1099-DA broker reporting rules take effect from 2025. Multiple states have their own requirements, with New York's BitLicense being the most stringent.