Crypto companies in Estonia
Crypto-currency is for companies dealing with virtual currencies. You can apply in 2 different ways:-
1. Providers of a service of exchanging a virtual currency against a fiat currency: – It allows exchanging fiat to crypto, crypto to fiat, crypto to crypto.
2. Providers of a virtual currency wallet service:- It allows providing virtual currency (hot and cold) wallet service in the framework of which the company generates keys for Clients or keeps Clients’ encrypted keys, which can be used for keeping, storing and transferring virtual currencies.
This service means offering custodial services of credentials necessary to get access to virtual currencies
Note: – the operating licenses are issued by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which is an independent structural unit of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board
Requirements for the License
Documents offered to officials
- Certificate of the register of convictions (a.k.a. criminal record) for all related persons (shareholders, board members, ultimate beneficiary owners and responsible person)
- Passport copies of all above mentioned persons
As a rule all documents must be in English (or Russian) and certified with an apostille. These documents may not be older than 3 month. It is also required to present rules of procedure for AML purposes. Officials have the right to ask for more information and they often ask:
- CV-s of related persons
- Description of planned activities
License Process
To apply for the mentioned license(s), it must be done via a company registered in Estonia or through a registered branch office of a foreign company in Estonia. As a rule, suggestion is to use a local company not a branch office, as branch registration is clearly a more complicated task.
When a local company is registered and all required documents collected, state fee of 345EUR will be paid and apply for the license(s).
During the license application process you will be assisted in current matters, as authorities often have more questions or they need some clarifications.
Other Requirements in case of Corporate Shareholders
In case of a corporate shareholder (of an Estonian crypto currency company), officials usually will ask for the criminal record of the shareholder company and ALL related persons to that company (shareholders and board members). This means that using a corporate shareholder in your structure might complicate things a lot. Therefore the suggestion is to avoid using corporate shareholders.
Time frame
An application for activity license shall be processed by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) by granting or refusing to grant the activity license within 30 working days as of the date of submission of the application. During the procedure the FIU can ask any questions or ask for any detail till it is wholly satisfied in issuing a license to you.
Contact Us to discuss your profile and eligibility.
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