Estonia aims to regulate crypto companies under a newly approved bill
The government of Estonia approved a bill aimed at regulating all the companies operating services in cryptocurrencies.
Estonia is a small Northern European country in the Baltic region, bordered by Russia, Latvia, Sweden, and Finland. In this small country, crypto trading is fully legal but on the crypto exchanges which are registered with FIU. Any new crypto firm can get a license in this country by complying with all the necessary AML measures. To get a license, the fee is €10,000 & later FIU grants it in 6 to 12 months if AML requirements are met.
On 21 March 2024, Local media reports confirmed that the government of Estonia approved a crypto bill. Under this newly approved bill, the government of Estonia aimed to regulate all the crypto companies under a more proper set of rules & laws. This bill will further go through a parliamentary vote to get passed.
If this bill gets passed in the parliament vote then all the crypto companies will be required to go under the supervision of the Financial Supervision Authority (FSA).
As per reports, the FSA will handle the licensing work for the crypto companies in the jurisdiction of Estonian from 2025 and all the FIU-registered crypto companies are required to submit a licensing application with the FSA body before the end of this year.
Some law experts claimed that the parliamentary vote procedure for this Crypto bill is only a formality because there’s no reason to oppose this bill, as already crypto companies operate services in this country.
Experts also noted that Estonia’s latest crypto bill is identical enough to the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations.
Estonian Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev said:
“I believe that anyone who takes this seriously and wishes to provide a service will also be able to obtain a new license from the Financial Supervisory Authority.”
Read also: Top Financial Guru Says It’s A Time To Buy Bitcoin, Not Stocks Or Bonds
