- Striga Technology OÜ is the first entrepreneur to get a green light
- Financial Intelligence Unit is an independent government agency
- FIU is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance
A crypto service provider has received its first license from Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit in accordance with the country’s new regulatory framework, which went into effect in March.
Since the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act’s amendments, Striga Technology OÜ is the first business owner authorized to offer a virtual currency service, the regulator stated.
First License Issued Under New Crypto Regulatory Framework
The Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced this week that Striga Technology OÜ had been granted a license to provide crypto services on September 20.
The Financial Intelligence Unit is a separate department of the Ministry of Finance with the goal of stopping the financing of terrorism and money laundering in Estonia.
According to the Estonian FIU, under the previous, less stringent framework, 381 licenses had been granted to crypto service providers since the beginning of the year.
The regulator reported in June that 135 businesses had applied for a license under the new rule. In the meantime, 18 licenses have been revoked and 94 crypto service providers have lost their authorizations this year.
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FIU aims to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing in Estonia
The financial regulator clarified that as of September 21, the FIU had previously issued 177 valid licenses to virtual asset service providers.
The Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit’s Matis Mäeker made the following statement that more than a third of virtual asset service providers will look for new countries with regulations that do not yet meet the risks and international standards associated with virtual asset service providers and supervision that is of lower quality.
Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, the finance minister of Estonia, met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in January to talk about how the two countries could share information to find crypto regulation’s best practices.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/09/26/estonia-issues-first-license-to-crypto-service-provider/