Tag: License

Alchemy Pay Scores License to Expand in Indonesia

by Blockchain News

A license to execute remittance and financial transfers in partnership with a local fintech business, Berkah Digital Pembayaran, has been issued to cryptocurrency payment service Alchemy Pay by the central bank of Indonesia. This license will allow Alchemy Pay to work with Berkah Digital Pembayaran. Both Alchemy Pay and BDPay were granted permission to use this license, which enables them to improve the payment ways they provide customers and lower their overall operating expenses.

In addition to providing local and cross-border remittance services, client payroll services, and transfers through bank application programming interfaces, Berkah Digital Pembayaran is a payment service provider. According to information gleaned from the official website of Bank Indonesia, the business was recently included on a list as a payment service provider falling under licensing category three. Transfers to any of Indonesia’s 136 banks may be made using the BDPay platform by retail and business customers alike.

Due to the acquisition of this license, the cryptocurrency on-ramp offered by Alchemy Pay is now able to enable payments made using Mastercard, Visa, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and other regional mobile wallets such as BDPay. At this time, operations are being carried out in 173 countries, and the organization is well-known for its relationships with big crypto giants like as the Binance exchange.

The acquisition of the license is a major achievement for Alchemy Pay as the company works to expand its service offerings throughout Asia and bolster its standing in the cryptocurrency payment sector. The firm began operations in 2018 in Singapore and manages its own utility token known as Alchemy Pay (ACH), which is issued on the Ethereum blockchain. The company was founded in 2018. The Automated Clearing House (ACH) system is an essential component of the Alchemy Pay network, since it is responsible for the provision of transaction fees, network incentives, and other operations.

In conclusion, the license that was awarded to Alchemy Pay and BDPay by the central bank of Indonesia allows the firms to provide improved payment ways while simultaneously lowering their operational expenses. This license is an important milestone for Alchemy Pay as it continues to extend its service offerings across Asia and improves its position within the bitcoin payment sector.

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Crypto Firm Bits of Gold Obtains Capital Markets License from Israeli Regulator

by Blockchain News

Bits of Gold, an Israeli-based firm engaging in crypto trading and brokerage services, announced on Thursday that it has obtained a license from Israel’s financial market regulator, the Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings Authority.

With the license from the watchdog, Bits of Gold said it will be able to partner with local banks and financial institutions. The crypto firm said the license, along with the recent guidelines from Israel’s central bank, will help resolve many issues associated with relationships between local banks and crypto.

The move makes Bits of Gold the first local crypto provider to obtain the license. The company said it applied for the license back in 2018.

Bits of Gold is preparing to develop a platform that will enable local and European banks and fintech firms to offer cryptocurrency services to customers. The company wants to start offering crypto custody services through its new digital wallet starting next month.

Is This the Beginning of Crypto Trading in The Country?

In the past, local banks had taken an ad hoc approach to accepting deposits tied to crypto investments. But that changed in November last year when the country’s capital market regulator approved Israel’s new anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing rules for crypto asset service providers. The rule cleared the way for local banks to more easily accept customers from the crypto sector.

The new AML rules cover the identification and verification of crypto recipients, reporting requirements for crypto companies, and the layout of a risk-based approach to dealing with money laundering.

In March, Israel’s central bank published draft regulations that further opened up the country’s financial system to crypto firms by requiring banks to examine the crypto firms individually rather than imposing blanket refusals on them.

In late March, Bank Leumi became the first Israeli bank to start facilitating crypto trade. Early this month, Israel’s financial market regulator granted a first permanent license to a local private firm, Hybrid Bridge Holdings Ltd., to engage in cryptocurrency activities. As a result, Hybrid Bridge Holdings is now building a crypto custody and exchange platform.

In Israel, many firms seeking to engage in the crypto industry are still obtaining approval from the regulator.

In February, the Binance exchange came under the regulator’s scrutiny over licensing issues. The watchdog ordered Binance to suspend marketing to Israeli users and stop all activities focused on Israel until the issues are addressed.

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BitGo Receives Regulatory Approval from Italy

by Blockchain News

More digital assets custody providers have won approval from the Italian financial regulator, the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), to serve customers in Italy.  BitGo is another one.

According to documents from the Italian regulator, as seen on Tuesday, July 19, BitGo has been registered as a cryptocurrency service provider by the regulator, therefore cleared to offer digital wallet services to Italian customers in compliance with Italian laws.

As per the documents, the company’s German branch, BitGo Deutschland GmbH, was registered to provide crypto products in Italy on July 15.

This means that BitGo has met requirements from the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), which oversees the activities of financial and brokerage firms in Italy and implements anti-money laundering controls.

BitGo is also licensed to offer services in South Dakota, New York, Switzerland, and Germany. The company disclosed that its applications to serve in a couple of other jurisdictions are still pending.

Others Expanding into Italian Market

BitGo’s entrance into the European nation follows a trend of other global cryptocurrency firms gaining approvals to operate in Italy.

On Tuesday, Crypto.com gained regulatory approval in Italy as part of its efforts to continue its expansion to new regions. The approval allowed the firm to provide a suite of products and services to Italian clients, open offices, and expand its national team.

Likewise, Coinbase was granted approval by the Italian regulator to operate as a crypto assets service provider in the country on Monday. The regulatory approval enabled Coinbase to continue providing crypto services in Italy and to bring new products to the market.

Also, the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori registered crypto exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, Bitpanda, and brokerage Trade Republic to operate in the country.

In light of the market’s rapid growth, the financial regulator recently introduced new requirements that mandate all crypto firms to meet the criteria before continuing to offer services in Italy.

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Cross-Asset Exchange Platform DIFX Acquires Additional License from EU Regulator

by Blockchain News

Digital Financial Exchange (DIFX), an emerging cross-asset exchange platform, has further stamped its name in the record books in the EU for securing an international license to operate as a digital asset exchange.

DIFX announced on Monday that it secured an additional license from the European Union (EU). The license would enable it to expand its digital asset exchange and custody services globally.

What this means is that the license gives DIFX access to operate across 28 EU Member States, providing all European users with its digital assets trading platform.

Jeetu Kataria, CEO, and Co-Founder of DIFX, talked about the development and said: “This is a major milestone that allows DIFX to grow globally and give accessibility to various communities all over the world. It also complements our goal, which focuses on boosting the global adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It’s worth mentioning that we’ve applied for an additional 6 global licenses which are under process.”

The executive said that as part of its broader plan to expand its operations into new jurisdictions, DIFX plans to secure at least 10 new licenses by the end of this year. “Considering the pace of its growth, the exchange believes it can increase its user base to more than 5 million by the end of 2023,” Jeetu added.

Launched in 2020, DIFX was created as a blockchain-based crypto exchange to bring significant and lasting change to financial markets. The platform provides an all-in-one solution for digital currency; designed for trading, investing, and staking. The platform brings cryptocurrency and traditional assets together in one consistent setting – enabling users to manage and trade over 700 assets, including international stocks, commodities, currencies, and over 100 crypto perpetual futures with leverage.

In late 2020, DIFX tapped Fireblocks, a crypto infrastructure company, to help the platform provide its customers with fully insured wallets to effectively secure their funds against bugs, hacks, and even internal fraud. In other words, DIFX’s offerings come with a unique insurance policy that protects assets in both transfer and storage.

Since rolling out Fireblocks, DIFX has witnessed a significant growth rate. The company grew from 5 million USD assets under management to 550 million USD assets in custody within 6 months of operation. DIFX also saves around 100,000 USD annually in operational expenses using Fireblock’s policy engine and authorization workflows and 40,000 USD annually in ERC-20 gas fees. According to DIFX, many customers prefer transacting on the platform because it is secured by Fireblocks MPC Wallet.

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Crypto Firm Change Receives License from Dutch Central Bank

by Blockchain News

Change, an uprising cryptocurrency exchange based in the Netherlands, announced on Tuesday that it has obtained approval from the De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch Central Bank, to acquire a local investment company for providing further trading services.

The crypto firm said that the license would enable it to provide financial services to over 453 million people living in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Change further stated that the acquisition is set to boost its investment footprint with traditional opportunities – including everything from shares, stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), commodities to its established cryptocurrency and DeFi products.

The move has offered added peace of mind for the company’s investors and put the firm one step ahead of Europe’s potential landmark crypto regulation.

Kristjan Kangro, founder and CEO of Change, talked about the development and stated: “This is a huge step for us. Recently, we’ve invested significant sums in upgrading our platform and boosting our range of crypto services to compete on a global stage – but we want to do much more.”

The executive further elaborated: “This additional license means we can remove more complexities our community faces on their wealth creation journey. Combining our crypto expertise with our investment firm license’s new possibilities means we can ramp up our investment footprint and accelerate growth.

Overcoming Barriers to Investing

Founded in 2016 and based in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, Change is a fintech firm on a mission to enable everyone to take part in the world’s success. The financial services company allows users to invest as little as €10 into stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other assets, which are all secured by blockchain technology and accessible via the smartphone in users’ pockets.

Early this year, Change carried out research that identified the three primary reasons why millennials are not investing in stocks, including high fees, high entry barriers, and the complexity of the tools.

 

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Singapore suspends Bitget exchange license over K-Pop coin promotion

by Cointelegraph

Singapore-headquartered digital asset platform, Bitget, has reportedly been suspended by the Monetary Authority of Singapore after getting into a dispute with an agency for the popular K-Pop boy band BTS.

As reported by the Financial Times on Dec. 5, Bitget lost the Singapore license following the controversial listing of a new K-Pop-related cryptocurrency called Army Coin. However, the crypto exchange still claims to have licenses in other jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, and the United States.

The issue arose on Oct. 25, when the Bitget exchange shared a tweet promoting Army Coin, which is named after the South Korean boyband’s followers.

It allegedly used misleading information such as, “This coin exists for the benefit of BTS” and “ARMY coin aims to take care of BTS members for life”.

The exchange reportedly violated the band agency’s portrait rights by showcasing the new cryptocurrency on their website using the “ARMY” ticker and BTS’s name and images without permission.

Once the agency, Hybe, received information that the cryptocurrency had been listed on the Singapore-based exchange, they announced:

“We are currently looking into the legal violations in this case, including the cryptocurrency’s infringement on our artists’ portrait rights without permission from or discussion with the agency. We will take legal action against all infringements and violations.”

It added that the coin had “no affiliation” with BTS and urged those that had lost money on it to contact the police.

Bitget responded to the statement according to reports, by clarifying that as a trading platform, they did not create the coin itself and will take no responsibility for it. However, the ARMY token was delisted by the exchange on Dec. 3. The FT reported that the coin was available for trading in other jurisdictions on Bitget, including in South Korea.

Founded in Singapore in 2018, Bitget claims to have over 1.5 million registered users worldwide, and after their most recent Series B funding is valued at US$1 Billion.

Related: Singaporean crypto exchange enters India amid regulatory uncertainty

Bitget was cast into the industry spotlight after securing a sponsorship deal with Italian soccer giants Juventus in September and becoming an official partner of PGL Major Stockholm 2021 in October.

In June, Bitget also inked a partnership with stablecoin issuer Circle to become one of the first exchanges to list USD Coin (USDC) as collateral for trading crypto derivatives.