TL; DR Breakdown
- Portugal is giving licenses to crypto exchanges
- This may signal growing acceptance for digital assets in Europe
- Other governments like Malta have licensed exchanges
The crypto community has a new reason to celebrate – even as the market struggles against the bears. It appears that some countries in Europe are beginning to get enlightened in matters crypto. Apparently, Portugal is finally issuing licenses to exchanges to legally operate within its borders. The first two exchanges to get licensed are Mind the Coin and Criptoloja.
According to a statement issued by the Portuguese Central Bank (Banco de Portugal) on its official website, the two exchanges are listed as Virtual Assets Services Providers. The license allows them to handle transactions relating to digital assets and fiat as well between the digital assets.
Licensing means acceptance
It’s noteworthy that the exchanges, especially Criptoloja, submitted their request for registration by the Central Bank in September 2020, meaning that the review process has taken a whole 9 months. In this case, it can only be assumed that the top bank embarked on a rigorous research to determine whether the licensing of crypto exchanges on Portuguese soil would be fit.
Now that a decision has been reached to license the exchanges, it’s fair to also assume that this is a rather mild gesture by the Portuguese government signaling its willingness to accommodate the crypto industry. That’s much unlike other governments like China that have been running miners and exchanges out of their countries.
Crypto exchanges in Europe
A more critical look at digital assets in Europe reveals that Portugal isn’t really the first country to show some love for cryptos. Malta has been a major supporter of digital assets, even going ahead to accommodate headquarters of some of the most popular industry heavyweights within its borders. From the look of it, it seems that the exchange business is about to boom in Europe as more countries dish out licenses to interested entities.
