Estonia on the track of revoking all crypto exchange licenses

The baltic country of Estonia plans to bring an entirely new regulatory regime by revoking licenses of all crypto exchanges. The country’s financial regulator told the media on Wednesday.

As per local state-run media news, the head of the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Matic Mäeker, expressed his idea to turn all the regulations to zero and begin licensing and imposing laws all over again.

Mäeker had previously worked in the Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority as the head of the Anti-Money laundering department. He said that he thinks that people are not aware of the industry’s risks and noted various related concerns. He added that illegal crypto activity, including terrorism financing and money laundering, is just one case. 

He also added that the industry is highly vulnerable to hacks, and the authorities should react to them in a cardinal and quick way.

Crypto companies in Estonia

According to records, around 400 companies in Estonia hold the virtual asset service provider (VASP) license. It is more than the VASP license holders in entire Europe. Authorities are concerned that these companies use the licenses to make a considerable amount of money, but the country does not get anything.

He added that the industry in the country has no contribution in creating jobs for citizens or anything significant for tax authorities and development.

Mäeker said that they should introduce stricter laws and regulations for the industry, including possibly making it compulsory for all the crypto firms to have at least 350,000 euros (around $404,000) reserve, either in the form of securities or cash. He informed the media that the current equity requirement is just 12,000 euros (around $13,800).

He said that companies should set up more secure IT structures, and the authorities should restrict them from taking anything but hard cash for investment purposes. He suggested that they should remove the options like refinancing the property to increase investor protection.