Over 1000 Crypto Firms Have Their Licenses Revoked In Estonia

In 2020, financial intelligence revoked over 1,000 licenses to operate from virtual currency companies. There are now about 400 companies operating in the country offering services with virtual currency. This is due to the fact that the country is tightening its supervision of the crypto industry amid heightened fears of money laundering in the crypto sector.

At the meeting of the Government Anti-Money Laundering Commission, issues related to the regulation of cryptocurrency service providers were discussed. Veiko TALI, the secretary general of the Ministry of Finance highlighted that the "monitoring and regulation" of crypto service providers "constantly needs increased attention." He also added that amendments to the Estonian law, which came into force this year, tightened the licensing of crypto service providers.

According to a survey by financial intelligence this summer, Estonian-registered crypto service providers have the largest number of customers in the United States, followed by Venezuela, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, India and Iran. According to the survey, the turnover of crypto service providers in the first half of 2019 was more than 1.2 bln euros (1.46 bln dollars), which is more than double the amount in the previous year.

Image: Stolitsa