A self-regulatory organization in the field of blockchain and cryptocurrencies registered last week in Croatia, CoinTelegraph reported.

The Croatian Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association (UBIK) aims to create a crypto community, spread awareness, work towards developing regulation in the country. It registered on February 13 and has officially begun working on February 17. More than 70 members have joined the association so far.

According to the UBIK blog, the governing board of UBIK met with the officials of the Central Office of Tax Administration in Croatia on February 09. The meeting focused on the taxation of cryptocurrencies as a capital gain, regulatory framework of initial coin offerings (ICOs), and the business of cryptocurrency mining companies.

“Representatives of the Central Office of Tax Administration have shown great interest in technology and problems affecting the crypto community in Croatia and expressed readiness to participate in solving those issues that fall into the tax-legal domain,” UBIK said (loosely translated).

Nikola Škorić, one of the organizers of UBIK, told a local newspaper Poslovni Dnevnik that he hopes to promote a favorable environment for more blockchain startups to base themselves out of Croatia.

“We want your startups to be registered as Croatian companies and that the capital collected comes directly to Croatia, to expand the database of experts who can work on this technology, to create a pool of knowledge and competence, [...] reinforcing the industries that work on the Blockchain,” Škorić said (as translated by CoinTelegraph).

The announcement comes on the heels of similar initiative by cryptocurrency companies in UK who recently launched CryptoUK in order to enhance the understanding of the cryptocurrency sector, improve industry standards, and engage with policy makers on the future of the sector. Reports also floated in the media recently that the Japan Blockchain Association (JBA) and the Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association are likely to merge in April to set up a self-regulatory body.