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What is the best country for crypto license?
- Thread starter Blackcrypto
- Start date
You've choosen an improper forum, I'm afraid. You are more likely to obtain some advice here
Offshore Company, I guess. Perhaps worth moving? @James Spader?
Offshore Company, I guess. Perhaps worth moving? @James Spader?
They offer no such thing as a crypto license, there's no regulation whatsoever, OP can register a business there and offer crypto services without doing anything extra.
Yep. I guess the goal is to have some kind of easy-to-obtain license to calm users ("We are regulated! Your funds are safu!"), present to banks and others who want to see it. Estonia, just as Sols said, used to be easy. I don't have actual information though, the things were changing fast here...
European Union continues to produce that anti-money laundering directives, AMLD5, AMLD6 etc. They are supposed to work everywhere in EU. How does it work? Do they become law-equivalent in every country right away? Are all the EU countries supposed to ratify them and change their respective regulations to be in accordance with these directives?
From January 1, 2023, National Bank of Georgia started the regulation of the crypto industry. At the moment, registration is not necessary, but once the National Bank will adopt a new rule before July 1, 2023 entities carrying out crypto activities must register with the National Bank of Georgia and get digital asset service provider license wich will cost 10,000 GEL. You can read more details here.
I'd avoid a license out of principal.
Go dark or hop jurisdictions depending on your business plan.
Crypto was invented to escape the system, not comply and bend over for it.
Go dark or hop jurisdictions depending on your business plan.
Crypto was invented to escape the system, not comply and bend over for it.
Can you describe it a bit more? Type of activities, regions of operations etc?
Why not to share it publicly? Or are there some specifics that should not be announced openly?
I guess, the US is the best option. If I am not mistaken, you should obtain just FIU registration and money transmitter license in each state where you provide the virtual assets service. Thus, in case you do not provide the services in the US, you do not need a license there.
Even though I totally agree with you that crypto was meant to be free from government and other official regulations, that's just not the reality anymore. Authorities have already got their hands all over almost every crypto coin and the businesses built around them.
What are you going to do about it?
Beside that Estonia and Switzerland are the destinations for crypto business.
Estonia? No way nowadays.
The minimum capital ranges from 100K (for general wallet and exchange) to 250K (provision of cryptocurrency remittance) - insane for a VASP, IMO.
You are required to have a local physical office in EE; you have to hire AML officers without connection to the managerial board (this is not as big of a problem, but still difficult for a startup); the AML processes and business plans requested are pretty complex too.
In comparison with other VASP regulators in the EU, this simply wouldn't be worth the hassle. I understand the FIU's goal of making the license more prestigious and trying to fix their f-up with activity licenses a couple years ago. This move did not clear up the reputation of those thousands (or hundreds at least - maybe the rest was legit, lol) of laundromats with the VASP trading license but only made it difficult, and generally not worth it, to pursue starting a VASP in Estonia.
Enjoy non-MiCA-adherent and registration-based EU countries while you still can
I agree the requirements in Estonia are too high to remain competitive for small startups.Estonia? No way nowadays.
The minimum capital ranges from 100K (for general wallet and exchange) to 250K (provision of cryptocurrency remittance) - insane for a VASP, IMO.
You are required to have a local physical office in EE; you have to hire AML officers without connection to the managerial board (this is not as big of a problem, but still difficult for a startup); the AML processes and business plans requested are pretty complex too.
In comparison with other VASP regulators in the EU, this simply wouldn't be worth the hassle. I understand the FIU's goal of making the license more prestigious and trying to fix their f-up with activity licenses a couple years ago. This move did not clear up the reputation of those thousands (or hundreds at least - maybe the rest was legit, lol) of laundromats with the VASP trading license but only made it difficult, and generally not worth it, to pursue starting a VASP in Estonia.
Enjoy non-MiCA-adherent and registration-based EU countries while you still can
Swissborg, for example, has an Estonian license, though. Also Coinspaid (one of the biggest gambling processors).
MiCA is soon here anyway so I would look more into tax and bureaucracy side of things. In the meantime, Bulgaria could be worthwhile.
For sure. Bulgaria and Slovakia are good choices for the time being. Well, after all, Estonia was one of the pioneers in VASP licensing - it is not a surprise that some of the older and larger European exchanges are licensed there. For aged companies (which were licensed 2017-2020) that did not get dropped in the 2019-2021 wave of license revocations, I think it's a good option (as in to stay there and keep it). But, for a startup, not really worth the money.
I know MiCA is coming soon, but it's not a good legal system to work with, so it's better to go for the countries where it will be latest. In Slovakia, it will be implemented starting from early 2026 - still a little over a year to enjoy the pretty simple but not unregulated system
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