Kraken secures money license registrations in Spain and Ireland

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has received an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) from the Central Bank of Ireland and registration as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) from the Bank of Spain.

According to the Sept. 26 announcement, the EMI license enables Kraken to expand euro-to-crypto trading services to 27 European Union (EU) member states and European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Meanwhile, the VASP registration in Spain allows Kraken to offer exchange and wallet custodial services to Spanish residents. The firm is also registered as a VASP in Italy and Ireland.

Kraken’s vice president of global operations Curtis Ting commented: “We see a firm foundation for crypto in Europe, which has forward-looking regulation that enables us to grow with confidence.” The platform currently supports over 200 trading pairs across six fiat currencies — the British pound, euro, U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, and Australian dollar.

On Sept. 21, Cointelegraph reported that Kraken was sued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) over allegations that its Australian subsidiary, Bit Trade, failed to make market determinations before offering margin trading services. Jonathon Miller, managing director of Kraken’s Australian operations, said that ASIC’s move had come as a surprise as he believed Bit Trade was abiding by local regulations.

Earlier this year, Kraken applied for restricted dealer registration in Canada to comply with new rules requiring all VASPS to register with securities administrators or face expulsion. Exchanges such as Binance and OKX left Canada following the new ruling.

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