The Baltic State Ministries of Finance expressed their support for the development of the Blockchain or distributed registers (DLT). The goal is to contribute to the advancement of innovations in capital markets.
In their recent Memorandum of Understanding, the Ministries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced their cooperation on several actions aimed at developing and developing their economies. The actions include the promotion of DLT to foster capital market innovations.
Part of the MOU reads:
"The Estonian Ministry, the Latvian Ministry and the Lithuanian Ministry Recognize the Importance of Capital Market Development and Strengthening the Institutional Framework to cope with cross-border challenges in the Baltic States … [And] to support the development of innovations in capital markets and new technologies taking into account regional Fintech solutions, for example
Estonian and Lithuanian efforts in the Blockchain industry
Estonia and Lithuania have already touched on DLT in the past, especially the initial offerings of money and other aspects of technology
In October 2017, regulators in Lithuania issued guidelines regarding the use of Blockchain financing. It also warned consumers that ICOs were not yet regulated and that investors would be at risk of losing all their funds.
Meanwhile, Estonia has been very supportive of the technology. In fact, the Estonian government has even planned to develop its own digital currency called "estcoin" for its e-residency program. As part of this plan, program revenues will be used to create a public-private sovereign fund that will invest in digital infrastructure projects and technology startups.
Several institutions such as the European Central Bank, however, criticized the country's "estcoin" initiative. Despite criticism, Estonia can still launch its exclusive virtual currency as a "quasi-official entity".