Estonia's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is calling for revoking all cryptocurrency exchange licenses that the local regulators have issued before. According to news outlet ERR News, FIU Chief, Matis Mäeker, warns that failing to nullify these licenses may result in another Danske-style financial scandal.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.
Particularly, Mäeker wants to rebuild the regulatory framework as many cryptocurrency companies that earn billions of euros do not support the Estonian economy.
"Their only goal is to get an Estonian license and use it to turn over very large sums, while Estonia gets nothing out of it," he said.
Under Mäeker's new proposals, the share capital of crypto-related firms would be raised to €350,000 (instead of the current €12,000). Moreover, cryptocurrency exchanges should also have this money in hand as cash or as low-risk, quick-selling securities.
Last December, the Estonian authorities revoked over 1000 cryptocurrency exchange licenses. Back then Deputy Secretary General, Veiko Tali, said that the regulation and supervision of cryptocurrency service providers "still require close attention."
As iHodl reported in September 2020, Estonia’s E-Residency project, a borderless digital society for global citizens, became popular among cryptocurrency scammers, according to the FIU. The regulator said the program had been flooded with "suspicious initial coin offerings and the misappropriation of large sums within them."
Access more than 50 of the world's financial markets directly from your EXANTE account – including NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange.