Estonia's Ministry of Finance disclosed last Friday that it had rescinded the license of above 1,000 crypto companies.
This statement came after the meeting of the country's Government Anti-Money Laundering Commission who met to discuss the regulation of cryptocurrency service providers. The country was once considered a haven for cryptocurrency entrepreneurs.
Major Updates
- Estonia has revoked the licenses of more than a thousand cryptocurrency firms.
- The country plans to focus on tightening oversight on the cryptocurrency industry.
The secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance, Veiko Tali who is also the deputy head of the commission said that last year, there was a lot of interest by businesses interested In acquiring a license to operate cryptocurrency services.
As a result of this, a considerable number of licenses were subsequently issued but there was limited legality for their surveillance and regulation. The amendments to the Estonian law which came into force this year are to tighten the licensing of crypto service providers.
He announced that this year alone, 1000 cryptocurrency firms had seen their licenses revoked, but he said that 400 of those firms were still in operation.
A survey conducted by the FIU. in the summer of this year showed that more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.46 billion) just in the first half of 2019 which was double what was realized in 2018.
The survey also revealed that crypto service providers registered in Estonia had the highest amount of clients in the United States, followed by Venezuela, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, India, and Iran.
The secretary said that some critical regulatory changes were in the works for the services of virtual currencies to further regulate the field. He confirmed that that was going to be the commission's focus next year.
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