Although Bitcoin and other digital currencies are experiencing growth and adoption in many European countries, Romania is not one of them. In mid-April, the administration council of Romania's central bank has determined that cryptocurrencies do not meet the criteria necessary to serve as fiat money; instead, they should be treated as financial assets. According to Daniel Daianu, a central bank official, explained that he sees a future in which tokens are issued by sovereign central banks as digital versions of fiat currencies, but he does not see the adoption of decentralized monetary systems by government financial regulators.

It should be noted that the Bitcoin Foundation chose Romania to be the headquarters of its first office in Eastern Europe. The pace of blockchain development in Romania has been pretty active in recent years; however, a central bank emergency ruled introduced last year proved that regulators are keeping a close eye as to how cryptocurrencies are being used in their country. The rule essentially recognizes tokens as having monetary value and thus being able to be used to settle transactions as long as party accepting payment is not the issuer of the digital currency as such.

As the situation stands in Romania, the fiat currency has been losing ground to the euro and the United States dollar, and this has resulted in a rising interest in digital currencies; Romania is hardly alone in this trend, this is also happening in Argentina, the Philippines, Turkey, and Ukraine. In countries such as Venezuela and Zimbabwe, where financial mismanagement, corruption and hyperinflation have caused fiat currencies to become worthless, digital currencies have become a way of life, and central banks have certainly taken notice. It is not surprising to learn that the Romanian central bank wants to protect the leu, but at least officials are recognizing crytpocurrencies as electronic money instead of prohibiting them altogether.

In the meantime, other countries such as Singapore and Russia have created digital versions of their fiat currencies using the Ethereum blockchain, and this is a trend that many analysts foresee will continue spreading to other jurisdictions where financial technology development is more active.