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Estonia Has Withdrawn Licenses From Over 1,000 Crypto Companies This Year

The mass license revocation still leaves around 400 virtual currency service providers (VASPs) licensed in Estonia, according to the finance ministry.

By Tanzeel Akhtar
AccessTimeIconDec 15, 2020 at 3:17 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:43 a.m. UTC
Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn, Estonia
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Estonia has withdrawn more than 1,000 licenses from cryptocurrency companies in 2020, apparently due to the burden of monitoring compliance.

  • Veiko Tali, secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance, said in a post on Friday that many of the companies had "minimal" connections to Estonia and clientele in "remote countries."
  • The mass license revocation by the Financial Intelligence Unit still leaves around 400 virtual currency service providers (VASPs) licensed in Estonia, he added.
  • The secretary-general explained that monitoring and regulation of virtual currency service providers (VASPs) are in "continuous need of heightened attention," and that "important regulatory changes" are on the way for the industry.
  • However, Estonia's resources for monitoring compliance by VASPS are limited, Tali said.
  • Estonia joined the European Union in May 2004, which means the country aligns with EU regulations concerning anti-money laundering and other measures.

See also: Inside the Estonian CBDC Experiment That Could Shape the Digital Euro

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