Crypto license for exchanges

Today, the crypto industry is actively developing, which attracts investors from all over the world. But to protect finances, laws have been created to prevent money laundering, and some structures control implementing these laws. European countries have established conditions, following which you can conduct your own crypto business to obtain a crypto exchange license. Crypto enthusiasts have a question: which government is most profitable to register your business with? Let’s look at a few European jurisdictions.

Lithuania

Lithuania is the country where it is most accessible to open a crypto business. Recently, Estonia was considered such a country. Still, after changes over the past two years, its rating has dropped sharply – many investors have withdrawn about 1000 licenses and begun to look for an alternative to this country. Lithuania had the most fertile financial basis for creating and developing the crypto business.

In this country, you can register in the shortest possible time (only 1 month). The government has created clear and convenient rules, based on which the bureaucracy for processing the necessary documents has been reduced to a minimum. In Lithuania, you can get two licenses (any one of your choice or both at once):

• For exchanges;
• For wallets.

As an advantage in Lithuania, a small corporate tax: with a company of up to 10 employees, the tax will be only up to 5%; if there are more employees, then 15%. In this country, there is no VAT on the provision of a cryptocurrency exchange service. The staff must have at least 2 people – 1 manager and 1 shareholder.

Before you start obtaining a license in Lithuania, you must pass a comprehensive check. The company’s owner, managers, and all employees must have a certificate of no criminal record. There should be a fraud control specialist among the employees. One of the duties is to monitor and identify those involved in money laundering or financing terrorism. A specialized organization will control your company’s work, including identifying and blocking financial crimes related to the misappropriation of funds.

Lithuania is a massive concentration of crypto business and attracts inexpensive paperwork for obtaining a work permit, as well as transparency and clarity of legislation in this area.

Estonia

Estonia also provides the opportunity to conduct crypto business. But recently, the requirements have become much more complex. Compared to Lithuania, Estonia has lost some of its former attractiveness for starting a crypto business, which has led to a significant decrease in the inflow of funds into the country. Potential investors do not see this country as comfortable conducting cryptocurrency-related financial activities. Moreover, a law was introduced to withdraw a license after receipt.

Compared to Lithuania, only one license type can be obtained in Estonia, making it easier to provide data for this registration. One of the company’s leaders must be a citizen of this country. And only the decision to issue a license is made within 4 months. Thus, obtaining a permit in Estonia has become several times more complicated, and its rating in this area has dropped sharply.

However, having a license in this jurisdiction speaks of the excellent reputation of your organization and enables your business to operate legally throughout the EU. All the laws introduced over the past few years are needed to protect clients from this country, so if you are ready to work honestly and openly, there will be no problems.

Czech Republic

Like the two previous countries, the Czech Republic issues licenses for conducting cryptocurrency business but offers several types of permits:

• Classical (crypto-crypto exchange);
• Crypto to fiat exchange;
• Traditional (combines 2 of the above);
• Specialized (allows to exchange currencies and take money for their savings, as crypto wallets do).

The authorized capital must be at least 8,000 euros to register a company. The business plan of the company should be worked out for a period of 3 to 6 years. The term for obtaining a license is at least 4 months.

This jurisdiction is very popular, as it does not impose large requirements on applicants.

In the end

Based on the above, Lithuania is the most prosperous and promising country for investing in cryptocurrency. There are relatively simple rules regulating this industry, no complex requirements for applicants, and the licensing process takes only one month.