AOL reports that the CYSEC (the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) has licensed, Revolut, a European digital bank, to offer crypto services in the EEA (European Economic Area).
The EEA is an area made up of 27 European Union countries as well as Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
Revolut, a company with an estimated value of $33 billion becomes the first company that has been approved to offer crypto services by the Cyprus regulator. The company is said to have 17 million customers in the EEA.
Revolut says Cyprus’s sophisticated regulatory framework is its motivation for seeking to expand towards the area. Other notable players in the Cyprus ecosystem include BitPanda, Crypto.com, and eToro.
Anticipating E.U’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation
In anticipation of further aspects of the E.U. Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Revolut and other crypto companies are preparing to create regulated branches in the E.U. zone in other to effectively compete with the territory.
MiCA aims to protect customers and eliminate scams in addition to checking money laundering and other kinds of crypto industry financial crimes.
The official publication of the MiCA took place on June 9, 2023. It was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. About one year after its publication, its first set of laws came into effect.
Support For Innovation
A statement from a Revolut spokesman says:
We welcome the E.U-wide regulation and wholeheartedly embrace the European Parliament’s clear intention to support innovation whilst requiring strong customer protection measures to prevent any type of market abuse. In establishing a hub for our crypto operations in the EU, we recognise that CYSEC has in-depth knowledge of crypto and its efforts to be a leader in crypto regulation.
This new license adds to the others the company has been granted in recent times. For example, not long ago, the company was authorized to practice in Spain by that country’s Central Bank.
It has also received a cryptocurrency license from the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore).
Unresolved Registration Application in the U.K.
Revolut has pledged to keep serving its customers in the U.K. via its U.K.-based outlet. However, a registration application it submitted to the U.K. FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) is yet to be resolved.
However, the company has been able to provide crypto services in the U.K. courtesy of the FCA’s Temporary Registration Regime.
Globally, Revolut boasts almost 20 million clients. It recently added 22 new cryptocurrency assets (including SAND, AVAX and APE) to its portfolio, taking the total number of crypto assets it offers exposure to around 80.
The U.K. fintech organization also plans to increase its crypto-employee base by 20% in the U.K., Europe and the U.S. within the next two quarters. 43 crypto-based workers have joined the company this year alone.
