Estonia revokes the license of more than a thousand crypto companies this year
The move is due to the special attention that some cryptocurrency businesses require given the potential risks
Two thirds of cryptocurrency businesses in Estonia have had their licenses revoked in 2020, and in what this year 70 % of crypto-associated companies have had their permission to work with digital currencies invalidated.
According to information provided by Postimees, the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit, or FIU, has revoked these licenses. Likewise, the Deputy Secretary General of the Government Committee for the Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism, Veiko Tali, announced that all cryptocurrency companies circulating in the country require “special attention” given the potential risks.
“We need to monitor the development of new technologies and manage the associated money laundering risks,” Tali reported.
As of last year, there were 900 companies dedicated to cryptocurrency-related service operating in Estonia, and after the purge there are only 400 service providers, as specified by the news outlet.
It is not the first time that regulatory bodies have implemented control measures for the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. In June, there was a major repression when 500 licenses were revoked due to a scandal caused by money laundering, and for the moment the country was seen as a pioneer of cryptocurrencies willing to promote exchanges in its territory, but that panorama little by little it’s changing.
K. Villarroel
Source: cointelegraph
