LocalBitcoins Exchange Receives FIN-FSA Crypto Provider License

LocalBitcoins exchange is now officially registered as a virtual currency provider with the help of the Finnish Financial Services Authority (FIN-FSA) starting at the beginning of November 2019. Finland now allows for officially registered providers who fulfill the requirements to operate in the country as we are reading in the latest crypto news today.

The LocalBitcoin exchange had to provide the regulator that it had all of the needed suitable Anti-Money Laundering and Know-Your-Customers procedures along with having the right safeguarding for customer assets so the management and key personnel also had to fulfill the criteria to be considered fit to serve the roles.

Finland is often seen as a country that has a high level of control and trust in the global community and since it is an official virtual currency provider opens the new business opportunities for the exchange. The CEO Sebastian Sonntag explained:

 “Finland is a well-functioning society, which holds trust and confidence at high levels. At the same time, the controls in the financial sector are of particularly high quality and the position of the clients is well protected.”

The registration by the Finnish regulator is just the latest step on LocalBitcoins’ path from an unregulated champion of the KYC-avoiding bitcoin users to being a regulated peer-to-peer exchange. The exchange was known for its adoption in countries that are under heavy political pressure and economic turmoils such as Venezuela.

As previously reported, LocalBitcoins had been under fire for a long time from the crypto community after introducing Know Your Customer (KYC) features on the platform. The new AML features were supposed to take out the fraud which the authorities claimed that it is very easy to do with cryptocurrency.

LocalBitcoins seemed to have little choice in the issue with the approved proposal to the Finnish Parliament for a new act on ‘’Virtual Currency Service Providers’’ back in March. Crypto exchanges are still under scrutiny after multiple platforms were the target of KYC controversies. Many EU countries are open-minded towards cryptocurrencies but KYC is a strict one-way system that allows the governments to spy on citizens. However, this seems to be a good sign for the platform and its further development.