BTC Markets, a cryptocurrency exchange based in BTC Markets, received a financial services license. With it, it became the first crypto firm to gain a financial services license.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the financial regulator of the country, issued the license to sister company BTC Markets, BTCM Payments.
We have an exciting announcement to make:
— BTC Markets (@BTCMarkets) June 21, 2022
BTC Markets is the first Australian crypto exchange to successfully go through the full AFSL application process via our sister company, BTCM Payments!
✅AFSL attained
✅ISO Certified
✅SOC 2 on the way!#crypto #bitcoin #finance
The holder can give advice, deal in, and develop a market for a financial product using an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license. In addition to other perks, it also allows the provision of custodial or depository services.
Although due to the absence of regulation in the country, digital and crypto asset firms do not require an AFS, BTC Market believes that the move will enable it to more closely bridge the gap between traditional finance and crypto at the same time offering the latest products to its customers.
The firm waited for around two years to receive the AFS license that it registered in August 2020.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has certified BTC Markets for information security management and is also certified by Blockchain Australia, the crypto industry body of the country.
Catherine Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, stated that her exchange business would get ready for its impending regulation after the license and also in accordance with its growth in receiving a System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 certification.
As per the data from CoinGecko, Bitcoin Markets has created a place for itself in the Australian crypto industry with $4.7 million in daily volume.
The exchange locked a deal with SelfWealth, the stock market trading platform, to provide access to trade Bitcoin (BTC), Ether(ETH), Uniswap (UNI), Ripple (XRP), and Chainlink (LINK), from June 30, for SelfWealth users.
Other exchanges seem to be following a similar path as Swyftx, a crypto exchange based in Australia, signed a $1.5 billion merger deal with Superhero, an online stock market investing platform.
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