Estonia Grants the First Crypto Service Provider License According to the New Regulation
Under the country’s new regulatory framework, which went into effect in March, Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit has issued its first licence to a crypto service provider. The regulator said, “Striga Technology Oร is the first business that has been given permission to offer a virtual currency service since the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act was changed.”
The first licence under the new crypto regulatory framework has been issued.
The Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced this week that Striga Technology Oร was licenced to provide crypto services on September 20. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is an independent government agency under the Ministry of Finance tasked with preventing money laundering and terrorist financing in Estonia.
According to the Estonian FIU, the newly licenced firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lastbit Inc., a US technology company.
“Since the changes to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act went into effect on March 15, 2022, Striga Technology Oร is the first business to be given permission to offer a virtual currency service”.
According to the Estonian FIU, 381 licences have been issued to crypto service providers under the previous, less stringent framework since the beginning of the year. The regulator announced in June that 135 companies had applied for a licence under the new regulation. Meanwhile, 94 crypto service providers have relinquished their authorizations this year, and 18 licences have been revoked.
The financial regulator made it clear that as of September 21, the FIU had already given out 177 valid licences to virtual asset service providers.
The head of the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit, Matis Mรคeker, commented:
“More than a third of virtual asset service providers will look for new places to do business where there is less oversight and the rules do not yet match the risks and international standards of virtual asset service providers”.
Estonian Finance Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus met with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in January to discuss how the two countries could share information to identify best practises in cryptocurrency regulation.
What are your thoughts on the Estonian regulatory authority issuing a license under the new regulatory framework? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Kevin, an Austrian Economics student, discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. He knows a lot about the security of Bitcoin, open-source systems, network effects, and where economics and cryptography meet.