Coinbase, Gemini Angling for MiCA Licenses in Malta and Luxembourg: Reuters

The two largest crypto stock exchanges, twins and Coinbas are set up to get licenses that would allow them to operate throughout the European Union.

Reuters reports This twin, owned and caught in Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, is on the threshold of receiving operating permits with Malta, after a small Mediterranean nation in January this year assigned licenses for rival exchanges OKX and Crypto.com.

In the meantime, Luxembourg is reportedly at the final stages of the COINBASE license permit. The company also plans to open an office in the country later this year, where it plans to hire at least 20 staff.

It is a potentially much more significant move than it would be just a few years ago. After the introduction Markets in the regulation of the crypto-imman (Mica) In April 2023, the License for work in one EU state is given to the owner the right to work in all 27, receiving access to the Pane -European market in the process.

This is due to the process known as “Passport”, And this means that other European nations are losing the possibility of blocking the CRIPTO assets or CASPS services, after having permission to work in another Member State. But there is a carving for cases where there is a solid legal basis.

Voice concerns regulators

Some EU regulators have raised doubts about the nature of these types of related rapid approval. Said one unidentified high regulatory official Reuters That the European body for securities and markets, or ESMA was anxious acceptance of licenses assigned in countries where regulators have fewer staff. Esma currently analyzes Malta’s licensing process, and the report is expected to be published.

A spokesman for the Malta Financial Services Directorate said his ability to quickly approve of approvals for “deep understanding acquired over these years” and added that he has strict standards regarding the prevention of money laundering.

The concern is also expressed because of the decision of Luxembourg to approve the Coinbase license, and one anonymous source highlights the relatively small size of the planned Coinbase print in the country. Luxembourg officials did not comment on potential approval.

Peter Curk, UK Crypto Portfolio Management Platform Iconomassaid Decipher Although it was originally designed to reconcile the crypto surveillance, “if regulatory capacity is different in Member States, we risk” race to bottom “in standards, diluting consumer protection and cross -country confidence.”

“The challenge of Europe is a balance of agility with the depth of surveillance,” Curk said. “Discussion is not just a license, but a collective reputation of the EU digital finances.”

“National competition is healthy, but not at the expense of regulatory cohesion,” he added, suggesting that the EMSA giving more supervisory authority would signal high collective standards on behalf of the EU -a to improve the mice -in credibility in the finance world.

The executive director suggested that if EU Member States treat Mica as a “opportunity for an arbitration license”, they ultimately risk sending a job in other regions like the USA.

Edited Stacy Elliott.