Crypto Broker Prasos Wins EU Payment Institution License

A Finland-based firm offering cryptocurrency brokerage and exchange services has been granted a Payment Institution License (PIL) in the EU.

In an announcement Friday, Prasos Ltd. said that, with the news, it has become only the third crypto firm in Europe to receive the license.

Awarded by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), the PIL enables Prasos to offer additional fiat currency payment services for users of its Finnish Coinmotion exchange platform and will further allow it to offer fiat payment services in other European Economic Area countries.

The broker acquired Helsinki-based Coinmotion for an undisclosed sum back in 2016. It also operates another exchange called Bittiraha.fi, as well as Bittimaatti, a bitcoin ATM network in Finland.

“The process for acquiring the licence has lasted almost 1.5 years, during which legislation on the EU level has become clearer. We have been developing our business and processes strongly. I am very happy that we have reached this point and received the Payment Institution Licence.”

Heidi Hurskainen, CEO of Prasos Ltd.

In the announcement, Prasos said it also plans to register under the FSA as a virtual currency provider in accordance with new Finnish legislation that came into force on May 1, 2019.  

Henry Brade, chairman of the board of directors at Prasos, commented that the company had previously lost several bank accounts “due to the unregulated nature of the whole sector.”

“With this licence we have, as the only cryptocurrency operator in the world, gained a customer fund account from a Finnish credit institution. As a payment institution, we also believe in the possibility of a deeper integration with the banking sector in the future” he said.

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