The cryptocurrency banking firm is the first to successfully navigate the new anti-money laundering barriers that dramatically bolster Estonia’s regulatory framework.
The first company to receive a license under a new Estonian legal system that was dramatically strengthened early this year is the cryptocurrency banking company Striga.
According to a statement released on Wednesday by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Striga received permission to operate on September 20. The business, which is a component of Bitcoin Lightning startup LastBit, has been established under a law intended to curtail the previously lax regulatory framework for cryptocurrency businesses.
By implementing the new system, the FIU’s director, Matis Mäeker, reported in May that he hoped to professionalize the industry. According to Mäeker, many of the hundreds of registered businesses lacked a solid business model and a local nexus.
Bernardo Magnani, the CEO of Striga, stated at the time that the approval procedure had been “difficult, to say the least… It was challenging for us to anticipate how it would seem.
The new Estonian law, which became effective in March, also required existing businesses to renew their licenses. The number of registered firms has drastically decreased from 381 in December to 177 as of Wednesday due to the difficulty of adhering to the new rules, which include having to maintain minimum levels of capital and hiring dedicated compliance officers.
Magnani noted during a phone interview on Thursday that “regulation in this field is just starting,” with the European Union only recently completing its landmark Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) and possibly more to come. “We think that will allow us to be highly competitive because we’ll be at the forefront of that.”
