One of the largest bitcoin exchanges Bitstamp has got a licence allowing it to trade in all 28 countries of the European Union. The licence was given by the Luxembourg Financial Industry Supervisory Commission.
The licence guarantees a high level of security as well as customer protection, reads the statement published today on the company’s website. It claims that this level of security was formerly affordable only for traditional financial institutions working with fiat currency.
The Luxembourg licence makes it possible to work throughout all EU thanks to the “single passport” allowing financial organisations from a member country to operate in the other member countries without additional licensing.
Bitstamp is the first cryptocurrency exchange to get such a licence within the EU. This was a complicated process that has taken about two years, says the company. During this period, the exchange was audited by Ernst & Young Luxembourg. The companies to follow will find it easier to undergo such a procedure, claims the founder and CEO of the exchange Nejc Kodrič, so we will soon witness more licensed bitcoin exchanges in the EU.
The Minister of Finance of Luxembourg Pierre Gramegna believes this step is “a milestone for Bitcoin and digital finance in Europe,” writes Forbes in a recent article.
The company emphasises in its statement that Luxembourg, a country with long-standing financial traditions and European headquarters for such companies as Skype, PayPal and Amazon, treats security issues with great responsibility. Therefore, the Luxembourg licenсe is a reliable document.
After receiving the licence, in addition to BTC/USD trade, the exchange is launching BTC/EUR trade from 11 am UTC, 26 April.
The licensed status is supposed to help the exchange in its work with big financial institutions, which are not always keen to cooperate with non-licensed companies, thinks Kodrič. The step will also help to form a better public opinion towards bitcoin. People will see that a cryptocurrency exchange is a part of the financial mainstream and is supported by governmental institutions, and there will be more trust, claims the financier.
Bitstamp began working to get a licence from Luxembourg after having failed to obtain it in the UK. To make things even more complicated, in January last year the exchange was attacked by hackers when more than 5 million dollars were lifted, which did not help with licensing at all, says Kodrič as quoted by Wired.
Andrew Levich
