The crypto industry undergoes an array of issues. The citizens of Estonia seem to be tackling a major problem with regard to licenses. While acquiring a license from regulators has become a big issue for crypto platforms, losing it isn’t that big of a deal. Problems pertaining to money laundering aren’t far off as the popularity and the value of the crypto market have lured in several perpetrators. Taking into account these matters, the financial regulator of Estonia has recalled the license of several digital asset firms.
Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit Take Over 70% Of The Country’s Crypto Firms
Ranking as one of the smallest countries, Estonia has expressed keen interest in crypto. However, the European country decided to keep the crypto platforms in check. A news portal revealed that the Financial Intelligence Unit [FIU] of Estonia had taken down the license of over 1,000 digital asset platforms over the course of this year. Only 400 crypto firms continue to function with a license in the country following the year-long takedown.
Addressing these activities, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Government Committee for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, Veiko Tali said,
“We need to monitor the development of new technologies and manage the associated money laundering risks.”
Tali also pointed out that all the existing digital asset platforms would be given close attention to overcome the risks that could endanger the users.
Several suggest that the $220 billion money-laundering scandals that struck the European country had led to the authorities of Estonia to carry out the dismissal of the license. While the FIU took down over 500 crypto platforms in June, the agency revoked the license of a few others throughout 2020. The money-laundering scandal even forced the regulators to put into place more stringent laws. Among the aforementioned platforms, the license of firms that did not start their services in the last six months of acquiring their license was also revoked.