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Dutch exchange Bitvavo cleared to operate in France

November 24, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Austria

The Dutch cryptocurrency exchange Bitvavo is slowly expanding its reach after gaining regulatory approval in Austria and France.

Netherlands-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitvavo is set to expand its services to French users after successfully registering as a digital asset service provider with France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).

The expansion into France comes just weeks after Bitvavo secured regulatory approval to offer its services in Austria. The exchange expanded its offering to Italy in 2022 and has filed registration applications for other major European markets.

“Securing registration with the French AMF marks a pivotal moment for us. We are excited about bringing our consumer-focused offering to the French market,” CEO Mark Nuvelstijn said in a statement.

The exchange also highlighted an interesting trend that underpins its efforts to expand into France. A recent AMF survey of French investors indicates that more of its citizens own cryptocurrencies (9%) than conventional stocks (7%) and bonds (2%).

Bitvavo currently serves around 1.5 million customers across the Benelux region. In a recent one-on-one interview with Cointelegraph at the European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona, Nuvelstijn highlighted the exchange’s focus on slow, measured expansion into new markets.

“Focus is key. You can try to get all of Europe at once, but that will set yourself up for failure. I think it’s really important to focus step by step. Our core focus areas are where we have a lot of traction, where we see that we have a lot of clients who are interested in our services,” Nuvelstijn said.

Another consideration is the application of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations, set to take effect through 2024 and onward. The Bitvavo CEO believes a synergized European crypto rulebook will force the market to mature.

“It will increase the bar of requirements, which is good for the sector because everybody needs to improve their business models. Secondly, it will open up the European market. So, you no longer need a license per country. The regulation will become more harmonized, due to which you can easily do cross-border business,” he explained.

French bank Société Générale grabbed headlines in July 2023 as it became the first mainstream financial firm in the country to obtain a license to offer cryptocurrency services in France. The likes of Bitstamp also secured regulatory approval to offer its services in the country in February 2023.

Meanwhile, Binance’s French arm continues to operate within the country despite reportedly being under preliminary investigation by local authorities for alleged Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering shortcomings.

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5 nations challenge crypto experts and investigators to target tax crimes

November 3, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Australia

The J5 generates significant leads through events, which, in the past, has helped uncover multimillion-dollar crypto Ponzi schemes, such as the BitClub Network.

The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), a global anti-tax fraud group, hosted investigators, cryptocurrency experts and data scientists in “The Cyber Challenge” event to track down individuals and organizations committing tax fraud.

The J5 members comprise the criminal intelligence communities from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, which collaborate in the fight against international and transnational tax crime and money laundering.

The group includes the Australian Taxation Office, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs from the U.K. and IRS-CI from the United States. Participants included experts from J5 countries, which were tasked with optimizing the usage of data acquired from a variety of open and investigative sources available to each country.

*J5 members include criminal intelligence communities from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Source: irs.gov*

Since its inception in 2018, the J5 has hosted five such events. In 2022, the fourth event focused on nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized exchanges (DEX). Sharing details about the latest 2023 event, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service report stated:

“This is the first Challenge where Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from each J5 country participated. Private sector was represented by blockchain analysis companies Chainalysis, BlockTrace, and AnChain making this the most collaborative Challenge to date.”

In the process, the J5 generated significant leads for further investigation, which, in the past, helped uncover multimillion-dollar crypto Ponzi schemes, such as the BitClub Network. John Ford, deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office, stated:

“This collaboration between public and private specialists not only generates operational outcomes, but shares expert training, techniques and procedures, which is integral for the participants to remain proactive and effective in a rapidly evolving operating environment.”

Ryan Ryder from Chainalysis pointed out that crypto’s inherent transparency, coupled with international public and private sector experts, “can collaborate to identify and shut down illicit activity,” a task that remains impossible in traditional finance.

The Cointelegraph Innovation Circle recently featured seven crypto experts in an article to help Web3 companies prep for tax season. First and foremost, Web3 companies must constantly monitor the tax implications of their activities and diligently work to ensure they’re meeting their obligations.

In addition, the members of the Cointelegraph Innovation Circle recommended seven best practices to ensure adherence to tax formalities. Choosing a tax-friendly country while ensuring on-time payment is a top priority, in addition to avoiding shortcuts and finding an experienced crypto tax accountant.

Other key factors include accurate documentation of all activities, seeking expert legal counsel, automating transaction tracking and using specialized software.

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UNESCO and Netherlands design AI supervision project for the EU

October 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The United Nations’ UNESCO and the Dutch government launched a new project for supervising AI to help create a framework for the wider EU area.

The United Nations and the Dutch government announced plans for the creation of a framework for the ethical supervision of artificial intelligence (AI).

On Oct. 5 the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure and the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially launched the project called, “Supervising AI by Competent Authorities,” through which they will assemble data on the ways in which European countries supervise AI.

The project has financial support via the European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI) and information collected by the project will result in a list of “best practice”- type recommendations.

Gabriela Ramos, the assistant director-general for social and human science of UNESCO, said this discussion is not a technological one, but rather a societal one.

“We are talking about the kind of world we want to live in. To shape the technological development of AI, we need effective governance frameworks underpinned by the ethical and moral values we all hold dear.”

Along with best practices, the information gathered will assist in the creation of future training sessions to improve “institutional capacity” on the topic.

UNESCO has already played a large role in creating ethical guidelines for AI in November 2021, which all of its member states adopted.

These moves from UNESCO come after the EU’s AI Act was passed in parliament in June 2022. The AI Act is a comprehensive set of rules for AI development within the EU. The bill was proposed by the European Commission in April, and after parliament overwhelmingly voted in its favor, member states will hold negotiations with the parliament to sort out details.

Since the passing of the bill in parliament, the EU has also introduced an initiative for AI startups in the region which will fast-track access to supercomputers.

Individual European countries have also been considering AI regulation and development strategies. On Aug. 25 Spain announced its plans for a local AI regulation agency and a national strategy to ensure AI development in the country is “inclusive, sustainable, and citizen-centered.”

Meanwhile, in Germany, politicians and digital experts are fractured in their ideas of how to best manage and implement the technology.

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Kraken set to acquire Dutch exchange BCM, eyes European expansion

October 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Acquisition

Kraken is set to acquire the Netherlands-based cryptocurrency platform as part of its European expansion plans.

United States-based exchange Kraken has announced a pending deal to acquire Netherlands-based cryptocurrency exchange Coin Meester B.V. (BCM) as it sets its sights on European expansion.

While financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, Kraken and BCM announced the coming acquisition following the European Union’s implementation of its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework.

The announcement from Kraken highlights its plans to grow its business across Europe, having acquired virtual asset service provider (VASP) licenses to operate in Ireland, Italy and Spain.

A statement from Kraken CEO David Ripley highlighted the strength of the Netherlands economy, the high level of cryptocurrency adoption and a culture of innovation as driving reasons for looking to establish a base of operations in the country.

“The acquisition of BCM will give Kraken a sizable position in the Dutch market and will allow BCM’s clients to benefit from an even more robust product offering.”

BCM co-founder and CEO Mitchell Zandwijken said that its existing client base would benefit from Kraken’s investment and innovations set to come from the acquisition.

“Kraken is the pioneer in this field with a track record spanning well over a decade, making it the perfect steward of our business going forward.”

BCM, which recently rebranded from Bitcoin Meester, was established in 2017 and offers cryptocurrency trading and staking services, including access to over 170 cryptocurrencies.

The company is registered as a Dutch cryptocurrency service provider with De Nederlandsche Bank, the country’s central bank. Both companies note that the deal is subject to regulatory approval, which will include clearance from the Dutch central bank.

Cointelegraph has reached out to Kraken and BCM for comments on the acquisition.

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Gemini to halt operations in the Netherlands by mid-November

September 29, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The company cites the inability to meet the regulators’ requirements but says it intends to return to the Dutch market.

New York-headquartered crypto exchange Gemini has decided to quit the Netherlands, following in the footsteps of crypto giant Binance. The company cites its inability to meet the regulators’ requirements but says it intends to return to the Dutch market.

In a letter to its Dutch users on Sept. 26, Gemini asks them to either withdraw their assets or transfer them to another wallet address, as by Nov. 17, the platform will suspend its operation in the Netherlands “due to requirements imposed by the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) on crypto exchanges.” As the letter goes:

“We kindly ask you to proceed in emptying your Gemini account, ensuring that you no longer have a balance on your account as of 17th November 2023.”

Gemini suggests that users transfer their funds to the local crypto exchange, which is registered with the DNB, Bitvavo. Launched in 2018, Amsterdam-based Bitvavo is a member of the Dutch Association of Bitcoin Companies member.

The American company still intends to return to the Dutch market after getting its business “ready to be fully compliant” with the new rules on crypto-assets, as set out under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).

In the summer of 2023, Gemini’s global competitor, Binance, also stopped operating in the Netherlands due to a failure to get the all-clear from the DNB. At the time, DNB press officer, Tobias Oudejans said to Cointelegraph that it would be reasonable for Binance to try and return to the Dutch market through compliance with the MiCA, which will unify the European Union national requirements for crypto companies:

“It is not yet clear in what way MiCA will be implemented in the Netherlands, but indeed it looks like it will be a different law than the WWFT and possibly on a European level, there may be access to the Dutch market for registered entities from other EU-countries.”

Currently, there are 37 virtual asset providers registered with the DNB, including eToro, Coinbase, Crypto.com and BitPay.

Crypto.com registers in the Netherlands, cleared to advertise services

July 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The company received the green light from De Nederlandsche Bank to offer its services in the country.

Crypto.com is the latest cryptocurrency firm to receive a green light from the Netherlands Central Bank to offer its services in the country.

The platform announced that it had registered as a cryptocurrency service provider with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), following a comprehensive review of Crypto.com’s business and compliance with the country’s AML and terror financing prevention requirements.

As previously reported, 36 cryptocurrency-related businesses are currently registered with the Dutch central bank, with the likes of Coinbase Europe, eToro and Bitstamp notable operators that also have clearance to operate in the Netherlands.

Cointelegraph spoke exclusively to Tobias Oudejans, DNB press officer for supervision, fintech, cryptocurrencies, resolution and payment systems, who noted that the DNB could not comment on specific registrations due to legal requirements of supervisory laws.

Oudejans clarified that the registration specifically allows cryptocurrency service providers to supply cryptocurrency wallets to customers and process fiat currency and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Crypto.com’s services were accessible in the Netherlands before the registration announcement. Oudejans told Cointelegraph that Dutch-based users are legally allowed to sign up for a service, but a company without registration would be acting illegally if it solicited or advertised its services to potential Dutch users.

Binance recently announced that it would give up efforts to register as a cryptocurrency service provider in the Netherlands and cease its operations in the jurisdiction, after failing to get approval from the DNB.

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Binance refers users to Coinmerce as exchange exits the Netherlands

July 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Binance

A reported “hundreds of thousands” of Binance users based in the Netherlands will have the opportunity to move their assets to Coinmerce for free as the exchange winds down.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reached an agreement with Coinmerce to refer its users as the firm winds down operations in the Netherlands.

In a July 6 blog post, Dutch crypto exchange Coinmerce said “hundreds of thousands” of users based in the Netherlands would be referred from Binance, giving them the choice of transferring their digital assets to the platform for free. Binance announced in June that it would be largely halting its services for Dutch users on July 17, citing a failure to obtain a virtual asset service provider license in the country.

“We offer these [Binance] users an equivalent platform that complies with all European laws and regulations,” said Coinmerce co-founder Nick Smits van Oyen. “The transition will be smooth and is, in consultation with Binance we have made the transition for users as easy as possible.”

Coinmerce & Binance bundelen de krachten voor een krachtige gemakkelijke overstap.

Meer informatie is beschikbaar via: https://t.co/wL9eGF5Jsf #coinmerce #binance #overstap #overstappen #crypto #cryptoplatform #cryptocurrency pic.twitter.com/mI4mcA1qB6
— Coinmerce (@coinmerce) July 6, 2023

In April 2022, the central bank of the Netherlands fined Binance Holdings roughly $3.3 million for offering crypto services without proper registration. At the time, the bank said the exchange had a “very large number of customers in the Netherlands”.

While the major crypto exchange continues to expand its operations to other countries including Kazakhstan, authorities in certain jurisdictions have been cracking down on Binance. In the United States, the global exchange has been named in lawsuits from the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Binance’s French arm is also reportedly under investigation.

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Netherlands

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