Enforcement of last year’s amendment
to Estonia’s anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financial of
terrorism (CFT) regulation has
resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of licensed cryptocurrency service
providers. As of May 1, 2023, there were only 100 crypto firms with operating
licenses, which
is an 80% drop from 489 as of March 15, 2022, when the amended Money
Laundering and Terrorist Financial Prevention Act came into force.
According to the Estonia
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a total of 389 operating licenses have been withdrawn
either voluntarily or based on its action. Of this number, nearly 200 were
withdrawn by the companies while about the same number were revoked by the
financial transactions watchdog.
Estonia, a country in Northern
Europe, is considered one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the
continent alongside Switzerland, Denmark,
Germany and Slovenia. As of summer of 2021, when Matis
Mäeker, FIU’s new head, came into
office, about 650 crypto services licenses were valid in the Baltic nation, the
regulator said in a
statement released on Monday.
However, following tougher
checks in line with the amended regulation, FIU said it found “a lot of suspicious
circumstances” in crypto firm’s license applications.
“This calls into question the
credibility of the businesses that wanted to come here and their actual desire
to provide services in Estonia,” said Mäeker. “It also shows the desire of some
individuals to use the Estonian economic system and financial system for
illegal activities.”
Enforcement of last year’s amendment
to Estonia’s anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financial of
terrorism (CFT) regulation has
resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of licensed cryptocurrency service
providers. As of May 1, 2023, there were only 100 crypto firms with operating
licenses, which
is an 80% drop from 489 as of March 15, 2022, when the amended Money
Laundering and Terrorist Financial Prevention Act came into force.
According to the Estonia
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a total of 389 operating licenses have been withdrawn
either voluntarily or based on its action. Of this number, nearly 200 were
withdrawn by the companies while about the same number were revoked by the
financial transactions watchdog.
Estonia, a country in Northern
Europe, is considered one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the
continent alongside Switzerland, Denmark,
Germany and…
