One of the top US-based crypto exchanges is expanding globally into major European financial hubs.
According to a new press release, Kraken Exchange has secured an E-Money Institution (EMI) registration with the Central Bank of Ireland, as well as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration with the Bank of Spain.
Ireland’s EMI license will allow Kraken to deal with European banks. Spain’s VASP registration will allow Kraken to operate as a crypto exchange and wallet provider.
Says Curtis Ting, Kraken’s vice president of global operations,
Our market-leading position in liquidity and volume for EUR crypto pairs, round-the-clock live client service and robust security bring a compelling value proposition for future clients in Europe. We’re committed to the ongoing investment in our European business as we continue our efforts to advance the adoption of crypto within Europe in the years ahead.”
Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US also registered as a crypto exchange and custodian wallet provider with the Bank of Spain earlier this week.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently said that firms based in the US are facing an “unfair” regulatory environment.
According to Armstrong, certain members of the government are making it difficult for the crypto industry to thrive.
“It turns out this year, we’ve had to turn our attention of course to the policy side as many of you had as well. It’s a really unfair environment that we are in right now where every startup in the space is just getting hit with a subpoena [or] a Wells notice.
There’s a really concerted, focused effort right now to try and curtail and kill this industry. Specifically, I think the two actors I’ve seen that are most responsible for that are probably the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) Chair Gary Gensler and [Senator] Elizabeth Warren.”
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